Getting The Band Back Together
by 10tonsoffun
Summary: The very last chapter in the 'Biotic Beginnings' saga. Jack has changed her name and her life. As a teacher, she is settling down with her husband and kids. The peace is broken when Oriana Lawson, Liara T'Soni and Jason Prangley discover a plot that could have consequences for the entire galaxy. WARNING: Adult themes, language and violence


_This story is the final chapter in my Biotic Beginnings series. If you have not read Biotic Beginnings, I strongly recommend doing so before continuing with this story. I also recommend reading my other one-shots which take place on the same timeline. Getting The Band Back Together is chronologically last, which is why I recommend reading all the other stories first._

 _This story includes several original characters, which will be very familiar to you, if you read my other stories first. The story also contains violence, adult themes, language and sexual content. This story has been uploaded both as a unique one-shot and as a final chapter of Biotic Beginnings._

 _Please enjoy and feel free to leave a review._

* * *

 **The Presidium, 2205.**

Oriana sighed. She checked the time on her omni-tool for the twentieth, maybe the twenty-fifth, time. She was waiting at the table of her favorite restaurant on the Presidium, waiting on her partner, Spectre Agent Tom Domino. She was the human councilor. And as such, she should have been the one who was always working and showing up late for their date nights. While Oriana had put the assassination attempt behind her, Tom was still tirelessly working to find out if the people who had tried to murder Oriana were still out there, waiting to strike again.

The attempted assassination happened three years ago, and Tom had stayed by Oriana's side ever since, as her lover and bodyguard. While Oriana had put the attack behind her and focused on her duties as councilor, Spectre Domino was haunted day and night by the thought of another attempt on his woman's life. It was sweet, and she felt very safe with Tom. But on nights like this one, all she wanted was her man, a nice glass of Thessian wine and some passionate love-making.

But Tom was late. It wasn't like him to leave her alone in public for longer periods of time. If he wasn't there to protect her himself, he usually insisted on giving her a C-Sec escort. Since Oriana couldn't see any uniforms in the restaurant, she assumed that she was on her own. Something very important was no doubt happening at the Spectre Offices.

She looked across to the table next to hers, taking a sip of the cocktail she had been given on the house. A young Alliance officer was sitting across from a very pretty girl. Still, Oriana had caught him sneaking glances at her cleavage more than once. In his defense, she had put the girls on show this night. She wanted to impress Tom. It seemed she had caught the interest of the young officer too.

Oriana looked at him for so long that he couldn't ignore her.

"Good evening, Councilor Lawson," he said, giving her a respectful nod.

"Good evening, Councilor," the girl chimed in.

"Hello," Oriana said. These two were probably in their mid-twenties, and though Oriana herself was in her late thirties, her designer genes had preserved her youth enough to make her appear to be of a similar age to them. "I promise I am not really as much of a sad, lonely drinker as I look right now," Oriana assured them, raising the drink to the officer and his girl.

They laughed and raised their drinks too.

Oriana smiled and forgot all about the young couple when she saw Tom rushing into the restaurant. He would no doubt apologize a hundred times for being late and give her a big kiss. But to Oriana's surprise, Tom immediately pulled her out of her seat and started pulling her out of the restaurant without as much as a 'hello'.

She had gotten used to letting him protect her, knowing that he would go crazy if she didn't, but she didn't much appreciate being dragged away from her drink and the staring couple. She thought, maybe, Tom was just eager to get home and get her dress off, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he was thinking about something else entirely.

To her surprise, Tom didn't pull her towards their apartment. Instead, he steered her into a small pub that she had never been in before. The pub was very small and looked like something that belonged in one of the wards rather than on the Presidium Ring.

Tom found an empty table at the back of the pub and sat down across from her.

"What is going on?" she asked, confused and annoyed.

Tom leaned out to look at the other patrons of the pub.

"I've found something," he whispered. "Something big."

She leaned forward. "Tom… What is going on?"

"You remember the assassination attempt…"

"It rings a bell."

"Oriana…"

"Sorry, baby. What have you found?"

"Have you heard about the New Cerberus?" Tom asked, glancing around the pub nervously.

Of course she had. Some lunatics were fascinated with the work of the late Illusive Man and had started the New Cerberus to continue his vision. So far, they hadn't done much worth noting. Certainly nothing comparable to what the old Cerberus got up to. Oriana had jokingly compared them to a really bad tribute band.

"What's up with New Cerberus?" she asked.

"I have reason to believe they've formed a coalition with Terra Firma," Tom whispered.

Now Oriana was listening. The Terra Firma party, once a legitimate political party with, admittedly, some rather extreme views, had turned into more of a criminal organization, trying to influence galactic politics from the shadows. Famously, Terra Firma, even when it was a regular political party, had been found to have some unfortunate financial ties to Cerberus. So whatever connections Terra Firma had to New Cerberus were not all that surprising. But the mention of Terra Firma had made the small hairs on Oriana's neck stand up. Terra Firma had been behind the assassination attempt three years earlier.

"What are Terra Firma and New Cerberus playing at?"

Tom leaned forward with a grim expression on his face.

"I believe they plan to take out the Council," he said, solemnly. "Presumably to place humans in power."

"How?" Oriana said. "Even if they murdered me and my fellow councilors, no one would just accept human control."

"That is unclear," Tom said. "I only caught a few messages between the two organizations. But I suspect they have a weapon that will destroy any alien resistance to a galaxy lead by humans."

"Shit," Oriana sighed.

"It gets worse," Tom said, grabbing both her hands across the table.

"The Illusive Man is still alive?"

"No. That fucker is dead as a doornail," Tom answered. "But it's pretty clear from the messages that Terra Firma and New Cerberus have people placed in both the Alliance and C-Sec. And they must be important people. That is why I wanted to get you away from the restaurant. I'm not sure who to trust right now."

Oriana nodded understandingly.

"That also means that I cannot use my own contacts to investigate further," Tom sighed. "I've removed all traces of these messages from my office. Should we warn the rest of the Council?"

"We need more information," Oriana replied with a small shake of her head. "If we warn the Council now, we might force the enemy's hand."

"We need more information," Tom agreed. "But as I said, we can't use my contacts."

"I know someone," Oriana said, looking nervously over her shoulder. "Someone with more information than anyone."

-X-X-X-

 **The Jon Grissom Academy**

Charles slowly entered the Alan Bean auditorium. He breathed in the scent of all the exotic plants in the enormous room. Just as it had been 20 years earlier, when Charles first came to the academy, the Alan Bean Auditorium resembled a rainforest with thousands of plants, ponds and narrow paths winding through the room. It was a very unique room for a space station such as the Jon Grissom Academy, and the Alan Bean Auditorium was very different from the clinical white, tiled look of the rest of the station.

Charles breathed in the air, which was both warmer and much more humid than on the rest of the station. He slowly walked further into the room, trying to make sure that his rubber soles did not make any unnecessary noises.

Charles wanted to go for a run, and he was looking for the family's pet varren, Eezo, who preferred to stay in the Alan Bean Auditorium most of the time. Eezo, the enormous varren with uncontrolled biotic abilities, had initially been Jennifer's project, but he quickly became the love of the entire family.

Even though Eezo was now a fully-grown varren, a very, very grown varren, actually, he still behaved like a puppy. He was completely unaware of his own strength, physically and biotically. This was why he lived in the auditorium. There was plenty of space, and many of the students liked to come by the auditorium to play with him during their free time.

Charles was sneaking through the dense forest, with all his senses fully activated, trying to locate Eezo before the varren found him. The varren was a natural hunter, and Eezo liked nothing more than to jump out at Charles when he least expected it. Charles thought he saw movement between the ferns, but it turned out to just be one of the butterflies living in the auditorium. He moved forward through the undergrowth, until he stepped on a dry twig. It snapped with a loud noise, and Charles froze in place. He fully expected 400 kilograms of hyperactive varren to jump on him. Any second. But nothing happened.

"Where are you, boy?" Charles whispered and moved further in between some enormous flowers. He had to find Eezo soon so he could go for a run and have breakfast with the rest of the family. He also had a lesson to prepare.

It had been four years since Charles and Jennifer were hired by the new head director of the Ascension Project, Kaidan Alenko, to teach the advanced classes. Their children, Luna and Atlas, had both been accepted into the project immediately, and Charles was proud to say that they were both performing very well. Luna, who had just recently turned 18 and switched from basic level to advanced, had really impressed him in the classes he had had with her so far.

Charles stopped by the shore of one of the ponds in the Alan Bean Auditorium. He looked around in confusion. Eezo liked to hide and jump out in a surprise attack, but he usually did not have the patience to wait this long. He looked around again and gave a sharp whistle.

"Come here, boy," he called out. Nothing happened.

Then, while Charles was looking across the pond, the enormous red varren broke through the surface of the water and, with his mouth wide open in excitation, pushed Charles backwards with his front paws. The varren, which was now bigger than a Siberian tiger, knocked Charles over, and he landed on his ass in the ferns.

"Well, now you're definitely going for a run. You need to dry off, wet dog!" Charles panted, as he grabbed Eezo's enormous fangs and pushed him away.

The varren licked Charles' face and sat down with his head tilted to the side, giving him an amused look.

"Are you up for a run?" Charles asked, groaning as he got back on his feet.

Eezo barked, and the sound reverberated throughout the auditorium.

Charles looked down into the pond where Eezo had been hiding, wondering how long a varren could hold its breath. He saw a few fish swimming around in the water, and he was pleasantly surprised that Eezo hadn't killed all of them yet.

"Come on, boy," Charles said and started jogging towards the exit. Eezo followed, with his tongue happily dangling from between his humongous fangs.

Once out in the corridors, Charles quickly found a pace that he was happy with, and he ran to the Physics Department, through the Economics Department and past the Alliance Guards Quarters.

He ran past many students who were walking through the hallways like tired zombies, no doubt on their way towards Orion Hall for breakfast. A few of them jumped to the side when Eezo came galloping down the corridor, but most of them were used to seeing the varren around.

"Good morning, Robert," Charles said, spotting a student in a red Ascension Project uniform. "Don't forget your written assignment for tomorrow."

"Good morning, Professor Magnus. Of course, I just need a few finishing touches," Robert replied.

"Great," Charles called back over his shoulder and started making his way back towards the Alan Bean Auditorium to drop off Eezo.

As Charles was picking up the pace towards the end of his run, he was suddenly overtaken by a red blur. Another student of the Ascension Project. Charles then noticed the short, dark brown hair and recognized the blur to be his 12-year-old son, Atlas.

"Keep up, old man!" Atlas laughed as he sprinted past him.

Charles huffed. Old man? He was just 38.

As soon as Atlas had overtaken Charles, Eezo barked loudly and took off after the youngest member of the Magnus family.

"Be careful!" Charles shouted after his son. Not everyone on the station was comfortable with such a huge predator running around in the corridors. But Atlas, who loved Eezo more than anyone, tended to forget that.

Leaving the responsibility of getting Eezo back to the auditorium to Atlas, Charles ended his run at Ascension Hall. He used his ID card to gain access to the department and walked past the office of Head Director Kaidan Alenko while trying to catch his breath.

The major popped his head out of his office. "Morning, Charles."

"Hi, Kaidan," Charles panted.

"I saw the test results from last week," Kaidan said, running his fingers through his ridiculously neat hair. "I'm very impressed with our advanced level students. Congratulations, Charles."

"Thank you, boss. I'm very impressed with them too. It all comes back to the amazing job they do at the basic level," Charles said.

"Of course," Kaidan laughed. "And you and Jennifer in advanced."

"Yeah, we're pretty great," Charles joked, beating some imaginary dirt of his shoulder.

"Well, I'm off for breakfast," Kaidan said, closing the door to his office behind him. "I'll see you later, Charles."

Charles nodded. "See ya."

He continued down Ascension Hall to one of the last offices before the classrooms.

On the door was a sign.

 _Advanced Instructor C. Magnus  
Advanced Instructor J. Magnus_

Charles and Jennifer were responsible for the advanced level of the Ascension Project. As it had been when Charles was a student of the project, students had the opportunity to graduate from the basic level to the advanced level at the age of 18. Advanced level taught the students to use their biotic powers in battle, and while there was no requirement for them to pursue a military career after graduation, the Ascension Project was bankrolled by the Alliance, and the advanced level curriculum was certainly designed to prepare the students for a life in the service.

Charles and his wife were the only two instructors with a shared office in the newly renovated Ascension Hall. The office was slightly bigger than the rest of them, although not as big as Alenko's. Charles entered and looked around the office. They had two desks. While Jennifer preferred to spend time with her students, either in the gym or in the classroom, to sitting in her office, her desk was a bit of a mess. Datapads were scattered across the surface along with a few of Atlas' toys that had somehow ended up in the office. In comparison, Charles' desk was relatively clean, although he probably should make time to get his things in order, just in case some of the parents came to visit the department.

Charles continued through the door behind the desks to his and Jennifer's private living quarters. Compared to their old house in Australia, this was a very small living space. All they had was a bed, a small table, some cupboards, closets and shelves to store their belongings and a bathroom with a bathtub, which Jennifer had insisted on having installed before signing her contract.

Charles could tell from the bulging blanket, that his wife was still asleep. He took off his running clothes and went out into the bathroom to draw himself a bath. While the tub was filling up, he quickly shaved. He looked in the mirror at the Ascension Project logo that was tattooed on his chest with the letters R.S.P.B. underneath. He remembered how he, Kurt, Vera and Prangley had decided to all get this tattoo after escaping to the Citadel on the Normandy. The R and the S stood for Reiley and Seanne. The Bellarmine twins that had been his classmates, but sadly hadn't survived Cerberus' attack on the Jon Grissom Academy. The P.B. was for the Psychotic Biotics. The name that Jennifer's group of young biotics had been known by. Charles then looked down at his wrist at the other tattoo he had had made on that same day. Across his wrist was his wife's name. Her real name. The tattoo had been made when she still preferred the name Jack. In fact, it was made just a few days after Liara had found out that her original name was Jennifer.

Having shaved, Charles lowered his body into the hot water in the bathtub and closed his eyes to relax for a while. He still had some time before he had to start preparing his lesson in biotic military history.

At some point, while his eyes were closed, he felt something slide against his thigh. He was not sure how long he had been in the bathtub. He slowly opened his eyes to find his naked wife lowering herself into the water too. A moment later she was lying on top of him with her head resting on his shoulder, keeping her face just above the waterline.

"Mhhhmmm," she hummed, as she rocked back and forth to get comfortable on top of him.

Charles, who was of the opinion that he was married to the sexiest woman in the galaxy, could feel his manhood stirring. He was getting hard, and he was poking his erection into Jennifer's buttock.

"Ooh," she cooed playfully. "Charles, I hadn't even noticed you were already in here."

"Right," he chuckled. "Do you notice me now?"

"Very much so," she moaned, rubbing her butt against him.

Charles ran his fingers up her thighs and over her tummy until he firmly grabbed her breasts.

"Did you sleep well, Mrs. Magnus?" Charles asked, enjoying the soft moan that escaped from his wife's lips when he started playing with her hardening nipples.

Underneath the water, he felt her grab his erection and guide it to her entrance. She gasped when he glided into her. Charles groaned and bit her neck softly.

"I slept very well," she sighed as he started to thrust. "Oh, but now I'm awake. Good morning, Mister."

-X-X-X-

 **The planet Kotholo**

"Lieutenant Roofe, get your team up on that ridge," Prangley ordered.

 _"Yes, sir."_

"EDI, you're with Sophia and me."

"Affirmative, Commander."

"Stay on your toes everyone," Prangley said, watching Lieutenant Ben Roofe execute the command that he had given. The lieutenant was pushing up a hill with Tanner and Rüger, the two other members of his ground team.

He smiled behind his visor. He loved given commands and watching them executed. Commander Jason Prangley… He was born to do this.

He remembered his time at the military academy as if it was yesterday. After the reaper war, Prangley still thirsted for a career in the Alliance, so he applied for a spot at the Alliance Military Academy in Moscow and was accepted immediately. Although he had been given a battle promotion during the war and had served as a second lieutenant under Jennifer, Prangley wanted a 'real' officer's rank with diplomas and everything from the academy. He also needed to hold at least the rank of commander in order to get command of his own ship. Not to mention the countless leadership courses, that, having earned his rank in the field, he had not participated in.

Coming to the academy had been a shock. Most of the other young men and women there were a lot like him. Extremely ambitious and willing to work hard to achieve their goals. It was a very competitive training environment, and everyone was constantly on edge, eager to prove to their instructors that they had the leadership potential that the Alliance was looking for. For the first time, Prangley really experienced military leadership. Having been used to Jennifer's methods, he handled the instructors verbal abuse better than most of the other aspirants. On the other hand, the focus on discipline was very different. Jennifer had always been a fan of 'winging it' and letting her team fight pretty much as they wanted to, as long as they were aggressive and won.

At the Alliance Military Academy, everything had to happen according to very, very strict procedures, and any deviation from the plan was punished severely. In the first six months, Prangley and the other aspirants had spent about half their time in classrooms learning about battle formations and team management theory. The other half was spent in the gym, on the shooting range, on the obstacle course or in the cold, Russian forests, where they would take turns being in command of the group and having to manage guard duties, patrols and surprise 'attacks' from the instructors. While Prangley appreciated the classroom lessons, he preferred the second half. The aspirants were pushed to their limit, and many had to give up along the way. Just carrying the heavy equipment was painful, and in the first six months, the instructors insisted that they should carry a lot more than any modern soldier would ever bring into battle. He had learned a lot at the Academy, until he graduated as a commander with 26 others as the class of 2192.

He was immediately headhunted to work on a dreadnought, the SSV Denali, as an executive officer. In his own leadership style, he attempted to mimic Commander Shepard, with just a dash of Jennifer mixed in. So far, it had worked well for him.

While Prangley was at the military academy, his wife Sophia had specialized in ship engineering. When Prangley got the job on the Denali, Sophia followed him and started working as an engineer on the ship. After five years on the Denali, Prangley requested a transfer to the Normandy to work as executive officer under James Vega's command. Prangley was given the position, and Sophia followed. Just two years later, Sophia had become the Chief Engineer on the Normandy, and when James Vega was given command of his own dreadnought, Prangley took over the most legendary frigate in the Alliance, perhaps in the entire galaxy. It had been the proudest moment of his life.

Now, Commander Prangley had been in command of the SSV Normandy for nearly six years, and if the Alliance would let him, he would be happy to command this ship, Shepard's old ship, until the end of his career.

Prangley had been sent to the planet Kotholo to investigate some mysterious signals that had been caught by Alliance technicians. With the help of EDI, who was still an integral part of the Normandy crew, not to mention the ship itself, the signals had been traced to a compound that did not appear anywhere in Alliance records, although it was definitely human in its design.

Prangley's mission was to investigate the origins of the mysterious signals in order to determine whether they represented a threat or not.

Kotholo was a hot, dry planet. It was not supposed to be inhabited at all. But it had not taken Prangley and his team long to locate a small group of buildings among the black cliffs.

"Can you see anything from up there, Roofe?" Prangley asked, looking up at the ridge he had just ordered the lieutenant to climb.

 _"Negative, Commander,"_ Roofe answered on the radio. _"No sign of movement yet."_

"Hold your position," Prangley said. "We're moving in."

Prangley pulled out his assault rifle and looked back at EDI and Sophia.

"Stay close," he told them. They both nodded, and Prangley started moving forward towards the compound.

When they arrived at the entrance to the first building, Prangley got a very bad feeling about this mission. Something just seemed off.

"Sitrep, Roofe," he said, while EDI and Sophia worked on breaking the electronic lock keeping them out of the building.

 _"Nothing to report, sir,"_ Roofe said. _"Wait… We have movement at three o'clock."_

Prangley, Sophia and EDI crouched immediately.

"Keep working on the lock. Get inside and grab any intel you can," he whispered to EDI and his wife.

The door opened, and Sophia and EDI rushed inside. Meanwhile, Prangley poked his head around the corner of the building and saw an entire platoon of human soldiers in completely black armor coming towards him.

 _"They will have you surrounded in a minute, sir,"_ Roofe said from his position on the ridge. _"Permission to open fire?"_

"Negative," Prangley whispered. "We are still gathering intel. Besides, the Alliance cannot attack humans who are not openly hostile."

Just when Prangley had finished his sentence, one of the mysterious humans pulled out a scoped rifle, aimed up at the ridge where Roofe, Tanner and Rüger were hiding and fired.

"That is hostile enough!" Prangley hissed, aiming his own assault rifle around the corner of the building. "Open fire!"

Prangley cut down the two nearest soldiers before the noise of more fire from the ridge reached him.

 _"We are suppressing them, sir. Just… Shit! On our six… Our six… Tanner is down!"_

"Roofe!" Prangley shouted, making sure that he was behind cover.

 _"Dozens of them…"_ Roofe screamed in obvious fear. _"Rüger, get down! Shit! They got Rüger too, sir. I'm going to… Arghhh…"_

"Roofe! ROOFE!" Prangley roared. There was no answer.

EDI and Sophia came running out of the building.

"We grabbed what we could," Sophia panted.

"Lieutenant Roofe's vital signs have gone, Commander," EDI said. "Tanner and Rüger too. They are dead."

"Fuck…" Prangley sighed.

He poked his head around the corner of the building again. Even more black-clad soldiers had arrived and were slowly advancing on them.

"We have to retreat, honey," Sophia said somberly, putting her hand on his arm.

Her tone indicated that she knew him very well. He hated retreating. He wanted to win. But she was right. He had to remember his training. He had lost three of his men already, the first that had perished under his command. He wouldn't lose Sophia or EDI too.

He nodded.

"I have warned Jeff," EDI told them. "Do you want him to bomb this compound from orbit?"

Prangley looked up at the darkening sky. Somewhere up there, Joker was keeping the Normandy in a steady orbit around Kotholo. It was tempting to order the helmsman to level the compound.

"No," he said. "We don't know what this place is. We must get out with what we have."

Sophia nodded in agreement.

Prangley looked up at the ridge where three of his marines had lost their lives. He was furious.

"EDI, give me some smoke," he ordered through clenched teeth.

The AI released several smoke grenades, covering the entire area in thick, grey smoke.

"Run!" Prangley shouted. "Back to the shuttle!"

Sprinting through the smoke, he could hear bullets hiss as they went over their heads. A loud pinging noise told him that one of the projectiles had hit EDI's alloy, and he put up a biotic barrier around all three of them while they escaped through the smoke.

"Go! Go! Go!" Prangley shouted, as the three of them burst out of the thick smoke and continued through a narrow canyon to the place where they had parked their shuttle. Once they reached the vehicle, EDI jumped behind the controls, and Prangley immediately started to check his wife's body for injuries.

Once they were back on the Normandy, Prangley stormed off towards the captain's cabin without a word to anyone. Once inside his and Sophia's private quarters, he ripped off his helmet and tossed it along with the rest of his armor in the corner of the room.

"ARRRRGH!" he shouted in utter frustration and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.

A few minutes later, Sophia entered the cabin. She was already out of her armor and in her Alliance blues.

"You knew this would happen one day," she said softly.

"I should… I could…" he started without knowing how to finish the sentence.

"No," Sophia said. "We were ambushed."

She walked over to him and raised his head with a finger underneath his chin.

"I need to figure out why this happened," he whispered, staring into her eyes.

She bent down and kissed his forehead.

"Yes, you do," she said. "But your crew needs you now. You are the commanding officer of the Normandy. The crew has a right to know what happened.

Prangley sighed deeply and nodded. She was right.

With his arm around Sophia, Prangley took the elevator down to the CIC and had EDI inform all crew members that he needed their attention for a minute.

As the crew members started pouring into the CIC, Prangley could tell from their faces that most or all of them had already heard the news. Still, they needed to hear it from him.

EDI came up with the elevator. Holding her hand was her five year old daughter Hilary, named after Joker's sister.

Hilary II was the first child to ever have a synthetic intelligence registered as its parent. While Joker was Hillary's biological father, EDI had handpicked the surrogate mother who would provide the other half of Hilary's genes, which she could obviously not produce herself.

EDI's body, the one holding Hilary's hand, was a secondary body that EDI had built herself. It was almost a perfect copy of her original body, but without the blast- and bulletproof alloy. This second body was made to make sure that Hilary would always have one of her parents with her, even if the Normandy was away on a dangerous mission.

This particular missions was supposed to have been very routine, which was why Hilary and EDI's second body were on the ship, and not back at Joker and EDI's Citadel apartment like usual.

"You took a hit down there," Prangley said to EDI. "How are you?"

EDI nodded at him.

"Just a minor scratch in the alloy," she told him, as Joker came limping out from the cockpit and hugged his daughter. "My original body is down in the armory, repairing itself. I am also trying to analyze the small amount of intel we gathered, but it is proving more difficult than anticipated."

Prangley nodded, and EDI put her arm around Joker, waiting on Prangley to address the crew.

Once everyone was gathered in the CIC, Prangley cleared his throat.

"In case anyone hasn't heard yet," he started, shaking with anger and disappointment, "we lost three excellent soldiers today. Roofe, Rüger and Tanner were caught in an ambush down on Kotholo. They didn't stand a chance. EDI, Sophia and I only narrowly escaped. The loss of three of our colleagues should make us angry. It already has. But we cannot let the anger cloud our judgment. While I am tempted to turn our cannons to that compound and bomb the living shit out of those fucks, we need to be smart right now. We need to learn who they are, and what they are doing at that compound. So we are returning to the Citadel to get someone with more stripes on their shoulders involved in this. For now, please join me in a minute of silence in honor of Roofe, Tanner and Rüger."

Prangley looked out at all the somber faces of his crew. Like him, many of them looked like they were ready to grab a rifle and return to Kotholo. But Prangley had not earned his rank and command of this legendary frigate by rushing into battle head first. He remembered his academy training. Knowledge is power, he reminded himself, knowledge is power.

-X-X-X-

 **The Presidium**

After learning about the sinister coalition between the New Cerberus and Terra Firma, Oriana had immediately contacted Liara T'Soni. If anyone could figure out what was really going on, and do it in secrecy, it had to be the Shadow Broker.

She had sworn not to reveal Liara's secret alter ego to anyone. So, for now, Tom was under the impression that Liara was just another information broker, completely unaware that Shepard's widow was in fact the most notorious broker of them all, the Shadow Broker.

Oriana and Tom were sitting in her office. They had decided to act like nothing was out of the ordinary. It was tempting to warn the rest of the councilors that someone was apparently planning to assassinate them all. But Oriana and Tom had agreed that they would wait, at least until they knew more about what was going on. Oriana realized that she was also putting herself at risk by carrying on with her life as normal, but Tom was keeping an extra close eye on her, and she was able to continue her work as the human councilor.

While Oriana was working at her desk, formulating answers to a proposition made by the geth and the asari councilors to allow higher approach speeds at a number of mass relays, Tom was sitting at her assistant Gabriel's desk, doing whatever spectre business he would normally have done from the Spectre Offices.

The door to her office opened, and Tom jumped to his feet with his hand already on his pistol.

"Good morning, Liara," Oriana said, welcoming the asari.

"Good morning, Councilor, Spectre Agent Domino," Liara chirped, using their formal titles while the office door was still open.

Tom slowly sat down, while Liara took a seat in the chair opposite Oriana.

"I have news," Liara said, much more serious.

Oriana leaned forward, listening intently.

"I have done a lot of digging, but it is proving difficult," Liara said. "For now, I can confirm that there is definitely some suspicious communication going on between New Cerberus and Terra Firma. Unfortunately, everything is heavily coded. So far I have been unable to determine what they are communicating about."

"But they are communicating?" Tom asked.

"Definitely," Liara said. "And while the details are still unclear, it would seem that you are right, Tom. It looks like there could be a plot against the Council afoot. But I will have to look into that."

Oriana sighed and leaned back in her chair. She had hoped that Tom had misinterpreted something, but if Liara reached the same conclusion, she trusted them both enough to believe that New Cerberus and Terra Firma were actually plotting to replace the multi-species Council with some form of human rule.

"Shit," Tom whispered from behind Gabriel's desk.

Liara nodded. "Shit, indeed."

Oriana swallowed hard. If Liara was cursing, things were definitely getting serious.

-X-X-X-

 **The Jon Grissom Academy**

Jennifer swiped her ID card and gained entrance to her son's room. She found Atlas sitting on his bed.

"Mum!" he said accusatorily, speaking in the accent he had picked up from their many years living in Australia. "Have you considered knocking?"

"What?" she said, smiling at her 12-year-old son. "Are you bringing girls into your room, Atlas?"

He stuck his tongue out at her, and Jennifer made a face back at him.

"You're childish," he said.

"I'm cool," she corrected him.

She then noticed what Atlas was doing. In front of him, he was levitating a Rubik's cube, manipulating the pieces, trying to solve it with his biotics. It looked like he was close.

"What are you doing?" Jennifer asked.

"Auntie Vera gave us these cubes in class yesterday. She has also given us other puzzles with moving parts. She says it will exercise our brains and teach us biotic control when dealing with very small and delicate objects," Atlas said, concentrating hard on the levitating cube, moving the pieces with miniscule movements with his fingers.

"Is that right?" Jennifer said.

Atlas nodded, keeping his eyes on the cube. "It's fun, but also very frustrating."

"Can I try?" Jennifer asked.

Atlas nodded again, levitating the cube over to her. She caught it in her own biotic field and turned it around to familiarize herself with the differently colored pieces.

She tried to move the pieces, but she must have been using too much of her considerable power, and the cube exploded into pieces all over Atlas' floor.

He smiled, picking one of the pieces out of his hair. "Don't worry, mum," he said. "That happened to me the first couple of times."

Jennifer huffed and turned on the spot. She marched out of Atlas' room, cursing Vera under her breath for coming up with training methods for the kids that she couldn't even do.

She cursed Vera all the way to Ascension Hall where Charles was teaching the advanced students. She was 44 years old now, but she didn't feel much older than she had twenty years earlier, when Kahlee Sanders first asked her to become an instructor at the academy. She was happy that she had preserved her youth, both mentally and physically. Despite having had two children, she didn't look much older than thirty. She was still in great physical shape, and she enjoyed how she could still drive Charles wild with her body.

The most dramatic change from the Jennifer, or Jack as she had been known then, who taught Charles and his classmates and the 44-year-old Jennifer was the lack of demons from her past. Most, if not all, of the mental issues she had been struggling with back then were gone. The voices in her head and the most violent urges had been replaced with a feeling of perfect contentment with her family and the life she and Charles were living.

She entered a classroom to find Charles explaining the physics behind singularities to the class. She often observed his lessons. She enjoyed watching him, and just listening to him talk relaxed her. This particular subject was important, but relatively boring to Jennifer, who would much rather spend time in the gym, practicing biotics with the students.

Two female students on the back row were whispering to each other while Charles was attempting to make some rather complex physics understandable to the teenagers in front of him.

"Anything you care to share with the rest of us, White and Chalmers?" Jennifer asked, and Charles paused his lesson.

The two girls quieted immediately, and Pernilla White, who had been leaning over to whisper something in Whitney Chalmers' ear, straightened up.

"No, Professor Magnus," Pernilla replied, blushing slightly.

"Okay," Jennifer said. "Then shut the fuck up, please!"

There were a few giggles around the classroom among some of the students who were new to the advanced level and Jennifer's language.

She looked out at the students, and noticed her daughter Luna smirking and shaking her head. Jennifer smiled back at her and winked. Luna, who had a tendency to dye her hair a new color at least once every month, was currently displaying a dark, red shade. It was, in Jennifer's opinion, a very good look for her.

The boy sitting at the desk behind Luna, a shy but talented kid called Lawrence Madison, obviously agreed with Jennifer. While Luna remained oblivious, both Charles and Jennifer had noticed how he rarely took his eyes of their daughter. Today was no exception.

Jennifer actually liked the boy, whose shyness and dedication to his schoolwork reminded her a lot of Charles when he was 18, and she had made sure that Lawrence and Luna were paired in exercises. Besides doing Lawrence a favor, it actually made good sense to pair the two of them. Jennifer was proud to say that Luna, like Atlas, was exceptionally talented, and Lawrence was one of the few students who could challenge her on some parameters.

Now that the classroom was quiet again, Charles continued his lecture.

"Who can tell me, according to the general theory of relativity, what is the speed of gravitational waves equal to?"

Only two hands were raised, Luna's and Lawrence's.

"Lawrence," Charles said, pointing at the boy.

"The speed of light, sir," Lawrence answered.

"Well done," Charles said.

"Nerd!" another boy commented, trying to hide the insult in a cough.

Jennifer was just about to reprimand him, but Luna beat her to it.

"Shut up, Brian Mills," Luna said, turning to face the boy who had insulted Lawrence. "Read a fucking book and you might know something too."

A few other students laughed, and Brian stared at Luna with a surprised look on his face.

"Language, Luna," Charles said, trying to hide his amusement.

"Sorry, daddy," Luna said, smiling up at Charles in a way that Jennifer knew would make her husband forgive their daughter for anything.

"And you, Brian," Charles said. "You shouldn't tease those who are smart enough to actually do their homework. This is for all of you: More than two of you should know the answer to this question. This is advanced class, and I require that you do your readings, otherwise I will start handing out detentions, extra assignments or take away privileges. I strongly recommend that you follow Lawrence's example in my wife's classes as well."

Jennifer nodded. If this had been her class, Brian Mills would have gotten more than a warning.

It looked like Lawrence had recovered quickly from Brian's insult. He looked happy. Most likely, Jennifer thought, because Luna had defended him.

"Lawrence is correct," Charles said, getting the class back on track. "The speed of gravitational waves equals the speed of light. Who can tell me why that is important when talking about singularities?"

Again, Luna and Lawrence were the only two students to put their hands up.

Charles sighed.

"Luna," he said.

"Since singularities, whether they occur naturally or created by a biotic, are gravitational phenomena, we can conclude that the effect of a singularity is not instantaneous, although it may seem like it, but bound by the speed of light," she said.

"Which is fast enough to make it seem instantaneous to us of course," Charles said. "That is correct."

Nobody called Luna a nerd for getting the answer right. And it wasn't just because Brian Mills had just been told off for insulting Lawrence, or because both her parents were in the classroom. Luna was one of the popular girls. She was pretty, obviously talented and she had parents who were heroes of the war. Although Luna was definitely a girly girl, unlike her mother, Jennifer was happy that she seemed to have had some influence on her daughter. Luna had a rebellious streak in her, and while being her mother was a challenge at times, Jennifer was happy that her daughter hadn't turned out to be another of those boring, pretty girls. There were plenty of those on the station.

"Alright," Charles said, clapping his hands together. "That's it for today. Remember to do both your exercises AND your reading, or there'll be no shopping trips to Elysium for the next three months."

Pernilla White and Whitney Chalmers gasped loudly from the back of the classroom, and Jennifer smirked. Charles had hit a soft spot.

While the students packed up their things, Jennifer joined Charles at the front of the classroom.

"Good job," she said, putting her arm around him. "Have I told you how sexy you are when you teach?"

Pernilla White and Whitney Chalmers heard her as they walked out the classroom, and they both giggled.

"Must you embarrass me like this?" Luna asked, joining her parents.

Jennifer stuck her tongue out at her, leaning against her husband.

"Real mature, mum," Luna sighed.

"Atlas said something similar," Jennifer laughed.

"He is a surprisingly smart kid," Luna said. "Considering his parents."

"Don't drag me into this," Charles chuckled, as Jennifer placed her hand suggestively low on his stomach, mostly to provoke Luna further.

Their firstborn rolled her eyes. Jennifer enjoyed the banter that she and her daughter shared. She was pretty certain that Luna was not very concerned with what Pernilla and Whitney thought about her or her parents. Mostly, she just enjoyed the banter. And so did Jennifer. Trying to embarrass Luna in front of her friends was actually one of her favorite activities.

"It's your turn to make sure Eezo gets some exercise," Charles reminded Luna.

"Actually, would you mind doing it, dad?" Luna asked, batting her eyelids at Charles. "I have plans."

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "Another date?"

"Nah, just afternoon tea with Vera before she goes home," Luna said as she skipped out of the classroom.

Now that the classroom had cleared out, Jennifer looked up at her husband, who smiled happily back at her.

"Fancy a quickie on the desk?" she asked, pushing him gently towards the teacher's desk.

Charles laughed softly, and lifted her up into his arms. While he supported her weight with a firm grip on her buttocks, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him intently as he carried her to the desk and sat her down on the edge.

She looked at him and licked her lips as seductively as she could. Charles gave a deep growl, and she knew she had him just where she wanted him.

-X-X-X-

 **The Citadel**

The Normandy had only just landed, and Commander Jason Prangley had handed over his ship to a team of Alliance technicians who were going to give the frigate a standard maintenance check. As the chief engineer of the Normandy, Sophia had decided to stay on the ship as long as the technicians were working. As usual, Joker and EDI completely refused to go anywhere while the ship was being worked on. Joker trusted no one with _his_ ship, and EDI played an important role in maintaining the ship that she herself was such an integral part of.

While the Normandy was docked and in good hands, Prangley walked to the Alliance offices on the Presidium. He needed to talk to one of his superiors about what had happened on Kotholo.

Once he reached the offices, he was immediately let in to see Admiral Dechalé. Prangley had known the admiral for years, and he fully expected the man to be very understanding. He had always found the admiral to be a pleasant man, which was not always the case with these old admirals. Dechalé always seemed to listen to the younger officers, and while he was friendly and pleasant to be around, he was also a man who usually got things done. He was not afraid to commit troops if a certain task demanded it.

And that was just what Prangley was after. He wanted someone who could look into who these people were, the ones who had killed his marines on Kotholo. More importantly, he wanted permission to lead an entire platoon of Alliance soldiers into that compound and kill anyone who got in his way.

When Prangley had explained the situation to Dechalé, the admiral scratched his beard, which he had grown since Prangley had last seen him, and looked down into his table.

"I'm afraid I can't help you, Commander. I am of course sad to hear about the loss of our soldiers. But I cannot give you the troops you want," the admiral said.

Not satisfied with this answer, Prangley stood up from his chair. "Then at least let me fly back, and I'll see what I can do with the crew that I have."

"No," Admiral Dechalé said, still looking down at his desk. "The Normandy has to stay here to bolster the defense of the Citadel."

"The defense of the Citadel?" Prangley said in surprise. "Are we at war, Admiral?"

"Not right now," Dechalé answered cryptically.

The admiral was less than forthcoming with his answers, and Prangley found his mannerisms very odd. Dechalé usually behaved as if he still wanted to be 'one of the boys' rather than sitting in his office every day. Prangley had expected a friendly slap on the back and a "what do you need, buddy?". But Dechalé hadn't even had the courtesy to look him in the eye while rejecting his request.

"I have a meeting, Commander," Dechalé said. "We can talk about this later, but my decision is final."

"I understand, sir."

Dechalé rose from his chair. "I really am sorry about what happened to your people, Prangley," he said, sounding more like himself than he had during their entire conversation. Then he walked around his desk and disappeared out of the office.

Prangley stared into the wall in disbelief. He could not believe that Dechalé would not commit people or resources to figuring out why Alliance soldiers had been killed in combat with other humans.

A plan started to formulate in his head, and he rose from his chair and exited the office through the same door as Admiral Dechalé. He still needed information. Not knowing why his men had died was unacceptable to him.

It wasn't a long walk from the Alliance offices to his destination. He was greeted by a young asari assistant, who was typing furiously on her keyboard until Prangley was standing right in front of her desk.

"Hello, sir," the asari said. "How can we be of service to you today?"

"I need to see Doctor T'Soni," Prangley announced, looking at the closed door behind the assistant's desk. He knew that Liara's office was just on the other side of that door.

"Do you have an appointment… Commander?" the young asari asked, having taken a second to look at the distinctions on Prangley's shoulders.

"I do not," Prangley said. "This is urgent."

"I am afraid Doctor T'Soni does not accept walk-ins," the assistant said, sounding appropriately sad on his behalf. "I can book you a session in… Five weeks?"

"No thanks," Prangley said. "Can you please tell Liara that Jason Prangley is here to see her, and that it's urgent?"

The assistant looked puzzled at Prangley's sudden use of her boss' first name.

"I can try," she said. "Just a minute, Commander Prangley."

The assistant left her desk and disappeared into Liara's office. She reappeared less than a minute later.

"She will see you now, Commander," she said, holding the door open for him. "I apologize for the misunderstanding. I was not aware that you know the doctor personally."

"No worries," Prangley said, entering the office to find Liara behind her desk.

She stood up as soon as she saw him.

"Prangley," she said happily. "It's been a long time. How is the Normandy doing?"

"The ship is flying as good as ever."

"And the crew? How are Joker and EDI doing?"

"They are well," Prangley said. "Hilary is growing up quickly."

Liara smiled and nodded. "Good to hear."

"I need your help," Prangley said, getting straight to business as soon as the unavoidable small-talk was over with.

"Of course," Liara said.

Prangley was aware that Liara was one of the most successful information brokers in the galaxy, rivaled only by the mysterious Shadow Broker. And right now, he was definitely in the market for some information.

He explained to Liara what had happened to three of his marines on Kotholo, and how Admiral Dechalé had been less than helpful.

When Liara had expressed her sympathy, she asked Prangley to send her a copy of the small amount of data they had managed to take out of the compound on Kotholo.

"Even EDI is having some issues with that," Prangley said, after Liara had spent a good deal of time looking at the intel on her screen.

"This coding…" Liara said thoughtfully. "Thank you for coming, Prangley… Thank you. This may turn out to be very important."

Prangley looked across at the asari, whom he had first met when she helped Shepard save him and his classmates from a Cerberus attack on the Jon Grissom Academy. While it didn't seem like Liara had more success finding something useful in the data that Sophia and EDI had taken away from the compound on Kotholo, she definitely seemed to find something about it very interesting. The coding, she had said.

"Wait here," Liara said, rising quickly from her table.

Prangley waited patiently, while Liara disappeared and returned 15 to 20 minutes later with Oriana Lawson and the spectre agent that Prangley had been introduced to. Tom Domino was his name.

Once all four of them were safely inside Liara's highly-secured office and Prangley had exchanged pleasantries with his old friend and her spectre agent boyfriend, the asari started speaking.

"I've asked Oriana and Tom to join us, Prangley," she said. "Because, if I'm right, you've just added another piece to a puzzle that the two of them have been working on with me."

He looked back and forth between the three others in confusion. He wondered how Oriana and Domino could have anything to do with the black-clad humans on Kotholo.

"What have you found, Liara?" Oriana asked, sounding as confused as Prangley felt.

"This coding," Liara said, pointing to the screen where the data that Prangley had provided still appeared. "Some of it is very similar to something I saw in the messages going back and forth between New Cerberus and Terra Firma."

Prangley felt a bit lost.

"Terra Firma and New Cerberus?" he asked. "What the hell is going on here?"

"We believe that the two organizations may have formed a coalition and are planning to take out the Council," Domino said.

"The Council?" Prangley asked. "How?"

"We don't know," Oriana said.

"And you think the assholes on Kotholo are involved in this?" Prangley asked Liara.

"The coding is too similar and too sophisticated for it to be a coincidence," she answered. "There is definitely some connection, although we still have no idea what it is."

Prangley realized that he was pacing back and forth in Liara's office. The three others were watching him closely, as if they feared that he was about to explode. And he felt like that might actually happen. Although Liara was excited about this connection that she had discovered, Prangley was still not sure what he had gotten himself involved in, and how any of it explained the deaths of his men.

"We need to warn the Alliance," Prangley finally said. "If we tell them about the Coalition and the planned assassination they will take care of it."

"We can't," Oriana said. "Tom's intel very clearly states that the Coalition has people in high places, both in the Alliance and in C-Sec. We are assuming that we can't trust the Spectres either. Liara is our only safe option."

"And that might not last for long," Domino said. "If they find out that we are onto them…"

He didn't finish the sentence, but they all knew that it wouldn't be pleasant.

Prangley sat down in a chair, holding his head in his hands. He couldn't trust anyone, it seemed. Just the people in the room.

"I want to get to the bottom of this," he whispered, looking up at the three others.

Oriana and Domino, who were holding hands, both nodded, and Liara started typing away on her computer.

"I want to get back at the ones who killed my marines," Prangley said, curling his fists.

"Understandably," Liara said, looking up from her screen. "But you may have to go rogue."

-X-X-X-

 **The Presidium**

Prangley was sitting across from Sophia at a table in front of his favorite restaurant on the Presidium. It had been a few days since his secret meeting with Liara, Oriana and Tom Domino. He had told everything he had learned to Joker and EDI, and of course his wife, but kept things secret for everyone else on the Normandy, at least for now.

Since they couldn't involve the Alliance, C-Sec or the Spectres, Oriana had suggested that they pretend like everything was normal, until Liara could figure out more about what was going on.

The Alliance had officially grounded the Normandy, asking him to stay at the Citadel to ensure that the political hub of the galaxy was adequately protected. With everything that he now knew, Prangley felt almost certain that someone was actively trying to prevent him from flying back to Kotholo and revealing a massive plot against the Council.

While Alliance technicians were still rummaging around on the Normandy, Joker and EDI were not comfortable leaving the ship. The two of them hadn't even been back in their Citadel apartment at all. Meanwhile, Prangley was trying hard to behave as normally as possible. He and Sophia had spent a lot of their time in their apartment in the upper wards, and he was taking her out for dinner, just like he normally would.

"Those techs better not be ruining my ship," he said.

"They're not," Sophia assured him, sipping on her white wine. "She's in perfect condition, so even if they tried, they wouldn't be able to do much more than polish a few of the shiny parts."

He smiled at her. As the chief engineer of the Normandy, Sophia put a great honor in maintaining the ship as well or even better than Adams and Tali had before her.

"Hang on, what do you mean, 'if they tried'?" he asked.

"Well," Sophia sighed. "As I said, there's not much to do, really. The techs are pretty much just loosening bolts and tightening them again."

"I had a feeling that would be the case," Prangley said, squeezing his knife and fork in his hands. "I knew they were just wasting my time…"

"Baby," Sophia said, putting her hand softly on his arm. "You're glowing."

Prangley noticed that he was giving off a faint blue light. In his anger, his biotic aura was clearly visible. He closed his eyes and took two deep breaths.

"I hate this, Sophia," he sighed, once his temper was back under control.

"I know you do," she said, rubbing his arm lovingly. "We are both sitting here in our Alliance uniforms, but it doesn't feel as good as it did a few days ago, does it?"

"No," he whispered back. "No, it doesn't."

A message ticked in on his omni-tool. He read it, and then immediately read it again, before showing it to Sophia.

 _P,_

 _Admiral Dechalé has disappeared without a trace._

 _Come see me immediately,_

 _L_

"L is Liara?" Sophia guessed, having read the message twice too.

Prangley nodded.

They quickly paid for their meal and hurried over to Liara's office.

This time, Liara's assistant was waiting for him and allowed Prangley and Sophia to enter her boss' office immediately.

Liara was behind her computer, and both Oriana and Tom Domino were there already.

"Where's Dechalé?" Sophia asked.

"Gone," Liara said, sounding very frustrated. "Completely gone."

Prangley, who was tired of waiting, demanded action. Clearly, Dechalé had been acting strangely because he was one of the high-standing officers in the Alliance who had fallen under the influence of Terra Firma and New Cerberus. The admiral must have somehow learned that Liara was on the case and gone into hiding, presumably with his friends in the Coalition.

"That's it!" Prangley declared impatiently, and decided on doing what he had wanted to do since he arrived at the Citadel. "I'm flying back to Kotholo!"

He was willing to ignore a direct order. It didn't even feel like he was going against the Alliance, since the man who had told him to stay at the Citadel had now disappeared.

"That wouldn't do us any good," Liara said. "My spies have already investigated the site on Kotholo. It's been emptied completely. You would hardly know there ever was a compound there."

"FUCK!" Prangley shouted, loud enough to make Sophia jump beside him.

"So what do we do now?" Tom asked. "Kotholo was our only lead..."

"Dechalé," Prangley said. "We find him, we find something…"

"Something what?" Tom asked.

"I don't know," Prangley sighed. "But it's all we have, for now."

Prangley, who had just been ready to set a course for Kotholo, hung his head. Now it looked like he was back to waiting for Liara to come up with something.

Oriana arched one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows at Prangley, and he looked back at her. It couldn't be easy for her either. She was trying to figure things out too, while taking care of her obligations as a councilor. Even worse, if the Coalition went through with their plans, Oriana could very well be one of their targets.

"You need to make sure that the Normandy is ready to fly at any minute," Oriana said to Prangley and Sophia. "With or without Alliance clearance."

Sophia nodded and a large part of Prangley hoped that Liara would soon give him something to work with. His ship was ready, and he was more than ready.

"I'll go down to the docks and make sure that Joker and EDI know what's up," Sophia said, kissing Prangley on the cheek.

While his wife left Liara's office, Prangley turned to the three others. "Are you sure there is nothing I can do for now?"

He could tell that Domino was fully sympathetic to his impatience. The spectre did not seem to enjoy sitting on his hands while they were making slow progress, investigating the possible assassination attempt on his partner.

Liara and Oriana both smiled at him.

"Soon," Liara promised.

"We will continue to act like everything is normal as long as we possibly can," Oriana nodded in agreement.

"Soon," he repeated Liara's promise. It would have to be very soon, or he would explode.

As he walked away from Liara's office, he was thinking of Dechalé's disappearance. The Alliance was of course investigating the case. But if it seemed like the admiral had vanished into thin air to Liara, the Alliance would be absolutely clueless.

The simulated day-night cycle of the Citadel was dimming down the lights, as Prangley decided to walk all the way down to the docks, rather than taking a cab. He needed to vent off his frustration with this entire mess.

As he approached the docks, he was stopped at one of the security checks. It was standard procedure. The Alliance section of the docks was not open to anyone, and Prangley started looking for his military ID.

One of the men at the security check stepped in front of him. "You are under arrest, Commander Prangley."

He froze, and then slowly looked up at the man. He was bald and wearing a dark uniform. That was all he could see in the dim light.

"For what?" Prangley asked.

Instead of answering, the bald man signaled to someone standing behind Prangley, and his left arm was pulled forcefully behind his back, and electronic handcuffs were put around his wrist.

This security checkpoint was supposed to be manned by either C-Sec or the Alliance, but the bald man's uniform belonged to neither organization.

"Who am I being arrested by?" Prangley asked, while someone started to pull his right arm behind his back as well. "C-Sec? The Alliance?"

Again, there was no answer. He resisted the force that was pulling his right arm back.

"Please cooperate, Commander," a voice behind his back said.

Prangley did not cooperate. Instead, he focused all his energy on his free hand, which started to glow.

"Wait…" the voice said, but Prangley had already released the energy, and he felt the person behind him release his grip as he was thrown back into a wall. If he was lucky, he would recover from the broken neck.

With the electronic handcuffs dangling from his left wrist, Prangley advanced on the man in front of him. The man held up his hands in front of his face.

"Not so tough now, are we, Baldie?" Prangley said, and to the man's obvious surprise, Prangley grabbed him by the arm and slapped the other half of the handcuffs around his wrist, locking the two of them together.

"You're coming with me," he said.

The man resisted, but Prangley punched him twice, putting a tiny bit of biotics in the second punch, and the man followed groggily.

As soon as Prangley proceeded through the checkpoint, an alarm started howling, and flashing lights alerted everyone in the vicinity, that something was going on.

"Shit!" Prangley cursed, barely able to hear himself over the beeping alarm.

"There he is!" someone shouted from the shadows, and a bullet whizzed past Prangley's head. He started running for the docks, and the bald man stumbled after him, around a corner and into an alley.

Prangley slammed his unwilling follower up against the wall.

"Who do you work for?!" he shouted, looking down the alley, expecting pursuers to come around the corner at any minute. "Why did you try to arrest me?!"

The bald man didn't answer, and Prangley was out of time. More bullets came flying his way, and he took off further down the alley, hoping there was an escape at the other end. He ducked, as the bullets were getting closer and closer. Suddenly, something pulled sharply on his left arm, and Prangley was about to shout at the bald man to keep up. It would not have done him any good though, because hanging limply from his arm was the body of the man with three perfectly round bullet holes in his chest. He was dead.

"Fuck!" Prangley cursed, looking down at the only source of information he had had. He looked up and saw his pursuers coming closer. He didn't have time to unshackle himself from the dead body he was now bound to. Instead, he threw the body over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could towards his ship.

When he marched into the CIC, Joker and EDI were talking to some Alliance technicians. In the background, Prangley could see Sophia working on the galaxy map.

Joker looked at the body of the bald man, hanging over Prangley's shoulder.

"Your new pet?" he asked.

"Yes, can I keep him?" Prangley replied, continuing towards EDI.

"I need you to open these," he said, holding his handcuffed wrist out to her.

It took EDI less than two seconds to hack and disengage the handcuffs, and Prangley carelessly dumped the body in a corner.

"We leave immediately," Prangley said seriously. Both EDI, Joker and Sophia nodded.

"We are ready to go," Joker said, as he and EDI started making their way to the cockpit.

One of the Alliance technicians crossed his arms and stood before Prangley.

"Commander Prangley," he said, looking up at Prangley, who was at least a head and a half taller than the technician. "The Normandy is under orders to stay docked."

"GET THE FUCK OFF MY SHIP!" Prangley roared, and the Alliance technicians immediately complied.

"Where to, dear?" Sophia asked, ready to input their destination to the galaxy map. She was smiling at him.

"Just away from here," he said, as the last of the technicians exited through the airlock.

"I'll set a course for Illium for now," Sophia said.

"Good," Prangley said, glancing at the body he had dropped in the corner of the CIC. "EDI, I want us free of the Citadel in ten seconds. Hack the docking clamps if you have to. Joker, they might try to shoot us down, so put some distance between us and the Citadel."

 _"Permission to break the speed limit, Commander?"_ Joker asked over the PA system.

"Granted," Prangley replied.

 _"Oh yeah,"_ he heard Joker say, sounding like a child at Christmas.

The pilot's voice was quickly replaced by EDI's. _"Docking clamps hacked, Commander. They are trying to shut down our engine remotely."_

"Can they do that?" Prangley asked Sophia, who shrugged.

 _"No, they cannot,"_ EDI replied. _"They only think they can. When they installed that feature, I reprogrammed our systems as soon as their tests were over. Instead of shutting down our engine, they have just disabled the alarm clock in your cabin, Commander."_

"You're a genius, EDI," Sophia laughed, as Joker brought the Normandy away from the Citadel docks and engaged the full power of her enormous Tantalus drive core much, much earlier than what was normally allowed for ships leaving the station.

Trusting that EDI, Joker and Sophia would guide them safely away from the Citadel, Prangley entered the Quantum Entanglement Communications room that Shepard had used so much during the final months of the reaper war.

He called up Oriana and Liara and quickly told them what had happened on his way down to the docks.

 _"And your prisoner?"_ the hologram of Oriana asked.

"Dead," Prangley said. "I don't know if the bullets were meant for me, or if they wanted to prevent him from talking, but they shot him."

 _"Shame,"_ Liara said. _"But I'm glad the Normandy got away. We are going to need an agent in the field."_

"So you have found something I can investigate?" Prangley asked hopefully.

 _"Not yet,"_ Liara replied. _"But we will find something. And you need to be ready when we do. Until then, I am sure EDI can do a lot to keep you hidden, even from the Alliance. I will try to slip out a few false rumors about your position to lead the Alliance astray."_

"Thank you," Prangley sighed. "I will lay low for now. You two just keep working on the case."

 _"We will,"_ Oriana assured him with a nod. _"But, Prangley… Are you okay? Going up against the Alliance can't be easy for you?"_

"I'm not against the Alliance," Prangley said after a short pause. "Not really… Besides, this is not the first time the Normandy has gone rogue."

-X-X-X-

 **Elysium**

Like on most days, Vera Vega allowed the auto-pilot on the family's personal shuttle to bring her home from work. It was not that she was unable to fly it herself, but after a long day of teaching the youngest students of the Ascension Project, Vera preferred to let her mind rest completely for the thirty minutes it took to fly from the Jon Grissom Academy to the house on the surface of the planet Elysium.

Vera and James had chosen to raise their children on Elysium since neither of them were biotics or sufficiently gifted in any other field to go to the Jon Grissom Academy. Thus, they had to go to a normal school. This meant that Vera, like many other instructors with families, had to commute daily from Elysium to the space station orbiting around the planet.

Vera's shuttle landed in front of the house that she and James had bought on the outskirts of the capital city, Illyria. When the shuttle door opened and Vera jumped out, she landed in snow up to the middle of her calves. This was Elysium. Almost every day it snowed. Luckily, Vera enjoyed the constant winter wonderland, and the view of the Illyrian Alps that she had when looking out of her bedroom window was superior to anything she had ever seen on Earth.

She waded through the snow and entered the house. As usual, the state of the foyer did nothing to hide the fact that she and James were parents to young children. Toys, winter clothes and various school assignments were scattered from the floor and all the way up the stairs.

She sighed and started to pick up the mess. The children would be home soon, and she would have to remind them that just because their father was away on a mission, didn't mean that the house rules no longer applied.

Captain James Vega had been in command of the dreadnought SSV Vinson since it was built. After years of commanding the Normandy, James had finally passed the torch onto Vera's old friend Prangley and taken command of the much larger ship, which of course meant that he had a lot more soldiers under his command as well. Vera had welcomed her husband's career move. As the commanding officer of a dreadnought, James had to go on fewer missions, meaning he had longer periods of time with her and the children. On the downside, the missions were longer, lasting up to several months. This was one of those periods.

While Vera was standing in the kitchen, thinking about her husband and the lessons she had to prepare for the coming week, the front door opened and her children ran into the house, laughing and screaming.

The 12-year-old twins, Mark and Antonio, stormed straight through the foyer and into the kitchen, leaving wet shoeprints all over the floor. They were both shouting and laughing, as they tried to hide behind Vera. Then, chasing their older brothers with snowballs in their hands, 9-year-old Valentina and her 6-year-old brother, Vincent, rushed into the kitchen. Valentina stopped, sliding on the wet floor, but Vincent continued, laughing loudly, and threw his snowball at Mark and Antonio. The ball of snow would have hit Vera in the face if she hadn't caught it in a biotic field and guided it gently into the sink.

"Whoops," Vincent said, as if he was only now noticing his mother standing in front of his intended targets. "Sorry, mom."

"Oooh," Mark laughed from behind Vera's back. "That's gonna cost you, Vince."

"No candy for a year," Antonio estimated.

"At least," Mark nodded.

"You two," Vera said, shaking her head at her two oldest sons. "Don't you think I know who started this snowball fight?"

"It was them!" Valentina shouted, very unnecessarily.

"At least we kept it outside," Antonio defended, nodding towards the melting snowball in the kitchen sink.

Vera pointed at the wet footprints on her beautiful tiles. "No, you didn't."

"Vince and Val will clean that up," Mark said.

"You will help each other," Vera decided and retreated to the living room with a cup of tea and a report from Kaidan Alenko that she would have to read before their next instructor's meeting.

When the children had cleaned the floor, they ventured back outside to build 'the awesomest snowman ever'. She could see them from the window, and she watched closely for a few minutes to make sure that they were playing nicely.

She thought she heard someone by the door, and then, before she could react to the noise, James was standing in the living room. She was too shocked to notice that, like the kids, he had left footprints all over the floor.

"Hey, baby," James said, as Vera stared at him. He was not supposed to be back for at least a few weeks.

She jumped up and leapt into his arms. He caught her and held her against his body as she planted kisses all over his face.

"This is the best surprise," she said. She was already heading towards the window to shout to the children that their father had come home early.

"Wait," James said, and she noticed for the first time that he looked sad.

"What's wrong?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him.

"It's… Prangley," James said.

"Oh God, James. Is he…"

"No," James said quickly. "Prangley is fine. But he's stolen the Normandy and left the Citadel in direct violation of Alliance orders. He's gone rogue."

"Why?" Vera asked in confusion. She didn't know many soldiers as dedicated to the Alliance as Jason Prangley.

"No idea," James said. "But taking a frigate and a crew is a serious offence, baby."

James then told her that he had been given command of another Normandy-class frigate, the SSV Romford, named after one of the great battles in London at the final hours of the reaper war.

"They want me to bring Prangley in," James said, looking very sad.

"Why you?" Vera asked.

"He used to be my XO," James sighed. "They think I will have the best chance of finding him and talking some sense into him."

"I don't understand," Vera whispered sadly. "Why would Prangley go rogue?"

"I have no idea," James admitted. "But I'm sure there's a good explanation. I'm sure it's all just a big misunderstanding."

This was a nightmarish scenario for Vera. Her friend and her husband were going up against each other. She had a very hard time imagining what could possibly have motivated Prangley to betray the Alliance. It was clear in her husband's face that he was equally puzzled by his latest mission.

James sighed, looking out at the children in the garden. They built what looked like a snow-krogan, rather than a snowman.

"Do you think I should go and say hi to them?" he whispered to her.

She wiped a tear from her eye. She couldn't stand the pain on her husband's face. "No," she finally said. "I assume you have to leave straight away?"

He nodded regrettably.

"Then go," she said, kissing him deeply. "If things go well with Prangley, you'll be home according to the original time schedule. They don't need to see you leave again."

He nodded again and kissed her.

"I will bring him back safely," he whispered in her ear.

"I know," she whispered back, staring into his eyes.

James gave her a final kiss and turned around. With all these years, all these missions, the goodbyes had become easier. She knew he would come home to her. But this time felt worse. Much worse. She followed him to the front door, where he turned around one final time.

"You should know," he said. "They are monitoring every known associate of Prangley's. You have to stay where you are, babe. Take care of the kids, take care of your job. I will find him."

She nodded, and James winked at her, as he always did, and walked out into the snow. In front of the house was an Alliance shuttle, and a private jumped out and saluted James, as he climbed into the vehicle. The shuttle took off shortly after, and Vera was once again alone with the children.

-X-X-X-

 **Omega**

For years, Kurt Nielsen had tried to quit his bachelor lifestyle. One night stands, sex with his secretary, asari strippers… He would leave it all behind for one woman, and one woman only. But this particular asari, Adina T'Loak, had always insisted that their relationship remained free of labels, commitments and restrictions. But after years of unsuccessful attempts, Kurt was finally making progress, and Adina had allowed him to move to Omega.

Going steady and being exclusive presented them both with a considerable challenge, but Kurt was enjoying every second of his new life with the woman he had wanted to be his for the past twenty years.

He had left his job on the Citadel, but even though his work had been both challenging and profitable, Kurt was happy to now live on Omega. He had been given a position in Aria's organization, doing almost the same as he had done on the Citadel, selling building projects. Working on Omega was more simple and more complicated at the same time. On Omega, his boss was Aria T'Loak, and she was the only authority he really had to worry about. On the Citadel, his employer had been the Council, which meant that new projects were often wrapped in layers of red tape and a bunch of compromises had to be made to satisfy all the council races. But at the same time, there had been clear rules that he had to follow, which had simplified his job. These rules were completely absent on Omega, and Kurt's job was made complicated by the fact that any deal imaginable could be made, either below or above board. Money decided everything, and everything was possible, until Aria decided that it wasn't.

He had been given a nice office above Aria's nightclub and main base of operations, Afterlife. Luckily, his office was sound-proof, so he didn't have to listen to the rumbling bass that filled the club day and night.

Currently, he was trying to sell the license to build a medium-sized hotel to a ruthless volus businessman. Aria, who was still undecided on whether she wanted to sell the license or build the hotel herself, had asked Kurt to find out how much money he could squeeze out of the volus for the right to build on Omega. Aria's reputation was Kurt's best tool when doing these deals. While he did not care for direct threats like some of Aria's other employees used daily, Kurt was undoubtedly helped by the fact that everyone on Omega, without exception, was terrified of crossing Aria. In this particular case, he knew that the volus would give him a decent offer to not risk insulting Aria with a bid that was too low.

The mere fact that Kurt had been given a job in the T'Loak organization, not to mention the fact that he was being allowed to live on Omega, was a clear sign that Aria did not exactly hate him as much as she liked to pretend. He was human, which of course disgusted her, and he was having relations with a T'Loak, her sister, her own blood. At the same time, Aria seemed to enjoy that Kurt did not simply bow down in the dust before her, like so many of her employees, who were only loyal out of fear or greed. Kurt was not afraid to tell her his honest opinion, and he joked around with Aria as much as with anyone else. The key was knowing when to stop, otherwise he had no doubt she would kill him.

While Kurt was working on a message to the volus, who would soon come to Omega to see the area he was buying a license to build in, Aria T'Loak herself entered his office.

"Good afternoon, Aria" he said. "Welcome to my office."

He smiled brightly at her, knowing that this exact behavior would annoy her.

"First of all," Aria started, crossing her arms. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a fucking shitty afternoon. Secondly… It's not your office. This is _my_ office. Your name is just on the door until I figure out how to kill you in the most painful way possible, _human_."

Kurt smiled, knowing that simply calling him by his species was the greatest insult Aria could think of. He knew that, if he just kept smiling, he would continue to annoy her, but not quite enough to make her actually kill him. He was playing a dangerous game, but Jennifer had survived a decade-long grudge with Aria with a similar tactic.

Aria scowled at him, but then proceeded to what was clearly the purpose of her visit. "Did you know that the Alliance is monitoring you?" she asked.

Kurt's smile stiffened. "What? Why?"

He immediately assumed that it would have something to do with his work for Aria. After all, Aria was not exactly known as a particularly law-abiding member of the galactic society.

"I don't know," Aria said.

"How did you find out?" Kurt asked.

"Nothing happens here without my knowledge," Aria answered matter-of-factly. "All I need is the why." Her face then transformed into the Aria T'Loak version of a smile, an evil grin. "What have you done to piss off the Alliance? Are you actually becoming interesting, Nielsen?"

Kurt shrugged. "I have no idea why the Alliance would be monitoring me."

Aria walked over to his desk and put a blue finger in his face. "If I find out you are helping the Alliance spy on me, I will kill you. For real. Understand, Earthling?"

Kurt nodded quickly. Aria could be genuinely scary. Even to him.

"Good," Aria said, and with no other words she turned around and left the office again.

Kurt quickly finished his message to the volus businessman. Then he went downstairs to the Afterlife VIP area.

"Gin and tonic, please, Marille," he said to the young asari bartender.

"You got it, Kurt," Marille said and started mixing his drink. "I think Aria might be looking for you."

"Just talked to her," Kurt sighed, leaning against the bar. "Have you seen Adina?"

"Sorry, Kurt," Marille said. "My shift just started."

She handed him his drink. It was excellent of course. Aria had headhunted the best bartenders from all over the Milky Way.

Kurt continued through the club, looking for Adina, taking the occasional sip from his drink.

Someone suddenly snuck up on him and put their hands over his eyes.

"Looking for me?" she asked.

"Who?" Kurt replied, pretending that he hadn't already recognized her sweet fragrance.

She pressed her breasts against his back as if to identify herself.

"Oh, hey, Princess," Kurt said, and Adina laughed.

She removed her hands, and Kurt turned around to find his girlfriend, which he could finally call her, standing in front of him. She was wearing a tight-fitting, long-sleeved dress, which nicely displayed her long, blue legs and the breasts that she had used to make herself known to him.

"Want to go home?" she asked, biting her bottom lip to let him know what she intended to do when they got home.

Kurt, who had always thought Adina was the sexiest creature in the Universe, nodded silently and downed the rest of his gin and tonic.

Adina laughed and snaked her arm around him. "Let's go then."

On the way towards their luxurious apartment, which they had moved into after Aria refused to let Adina bring Kurt into the T'Loak Mansion, Kurt asked Adina how she had spent her day.

"Dancing," she said. "A single meeting with Aria and a krogan idiot, and then more dancing."

Kurt laughed. This was the kind of work day that the 'Princess of Omega' had. She basically did whatever she wanted, and attended the odd meeting, mostly if Aria asked her to represent the T'Loak name.

"Aria says you're being spied on by the Alliance," Adina said in a more serious tone of voice. "Do you know what that's about?"

Kurt shook his head. "No idea. It's probably just EDI trying to be funny."

"What did Aria say?" Adina asked.

"The usual… I'll kill you… She thought maybe I was spying on her for the Alliance… Or that I was finally becoming cool enough to earn some Alliance attention."

She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Secretly, she likes you."

He snorted. "Hah, yeah… of course she does."

They were nearly at the apartment when a huge man stepped out from behind one of the street vendors' stall and stopped right in front of them. The man was at least a full head taller than Kurt, and looked to be around 60 years old.

Out of nowhere, the man pointed a thick finger at Kurt. "Why would you want to be with such a whore?" he asked in a rough voice, glancing briefly at Adina.

Kurt was completely taken aback. This was Omega. Nobody spoke to or about Adina in that way here. He took a step to put himself between the man and Adina.

"Adina is not a prostitute," he said, trying to remain calm.

"You're right," the man growled. "Even the cheapest whores don't let little shits like you fuck them for free."

"What is your problem, mate?" Kurt asked, still keeping Adina behind him.

With surprisingly quick movements, the man pushed Kurt in the chest. He stumbled backwards and ducked just in time to avoid the man's enormous fist. As the older man's wild swing went just over his head, Kurt took half a step forward and returned a devastating uppercut to his attacker's chin.

The man's eyes rolled back in his head, and his body went soft as rubber, as he collapsed in the middle of one of Omega's busiest shopping streets. Kurt had put a good deal of biotic power into his punch, and the older man lying at his feet was completely knocked out.

Silently, Adina kneeled over the man. She grabbed both sides of his head with her hands. For a second, Kurt was sure that his girlfriend was going to kiss the unconscious man. Then, with a swift movement, Adina snapped the man's neck.

Still kneeling, she looked up at Kurt, who was very puzzled by this entire situation.

"He's been annoying me for decades," she explained, as a small crowd was gathering to see what had happened. "I met him when I first started to find humans attractive. He was very different back then. We went on a date, but it never went further than that. He never forgot that."

It was hard to imagine Adina agreeing to go on a date with the older man that had just died by her hands. But, considering that Adina was an asari with a long lifespan, it all made sense. It still made Kurt shiver though. He looked down at the body and then nervously around at the other people around them. The majority of them must have seen that they had just knocked down a man and killed him. But then he remembered where he was, and who he was with. Omega was close to lawless, and as Aria's sister, no one would dare to as much as bat an eyelid at Adina murdering a man in the street.

"Let's get out of here," he simply said and dragged Adina the rest of the way to their apartment.

As soon as they were inside, Kurt sat down on a couch and breathed a deep sigh. Adina smiled at him and started to undress herself.

"Welcome to the T'Loak family," she said, freeing her breasts. "Welcome to Omega."

Kurt nodded. This was Omega. After years of living on the Presidium, it would take him some time to get used to murders on the street. Particularly a murder carried out by his girlfriend, right in front of him.

Adina licked her lips and sat down in his lap. "You're cute when you're shocked," she whispered, licking his ear.

Kurt leaned his head back as his body started to react to the naked asari that was sitting on top of him. "traumatized," he corrected her and grabbed her ass with both hands.

"I'll say it again," she moaned in his ear and started to unbutton his shirt, "welcome to Omega…"

-X-X-X-

 **The Presidium**

Oriana was sitting in Liara's office, where she had spent almost as much time as in her own office since Prangley had escaped from the Citadel. The Shadow Broker was typing away at her computer as always, and Oriana watched as Liara's long, slender, blue fingers raced back and forth over the holo-keyboard.

Although he was uncomfortable with leaving her side, Oriana had asked Tom to go to the Spectre Offices and do some paperwork. They still needed it to look like everything was business as usual. He had complained, loudly and at length, but Oriana insisted that she would be safe in Liara's company.

Liara had made an interesting discovery. Since the Normandy went rogue, everyone who was a known associate of Commander Jason Prangley had been put under surveillance. This of course included both Liara and Oriana herself, but also every member of the disbanded Psychotic Biotics. Even Kolyat, which meant that the Alliance might as well have been spying on the drell royal family. Completely unheard of.

Liara had managed to send a secret message out to everyone on the Alliance's surveillance list. Naturally, the message had to be heavily encrypted to make sure that it wasn't intercepted by the Alliance. EDI had helped with that. The message would warn everyone that they were being watched. Liara had also let everyone know that Prangley was investigating something serious that involved at least one Alliance admiral, but the message didn't say much more than that, in case the encryption was not as unbreakable as they thought. Oriana and Liara had agreed that it was very important that the enemy did not find out how much they knew, although it didn't feel like they knew all that much.

The last thing the message said was for all of them to lay low until they had come up with a plan.

While Oriana was frustrated with their slow progress, Liara _had_ made some interesting discoveries. Tom suspected that the Coalition was in possession of some gruesome weapon to destroy any alien resistance to the human supremacy they had planned. According to Liara, Tom had been right. In their messages, she had found information pertaining to a series of extremely powerful missiles. Unfortunately, Liara had not managed to figure out if the Coalition already had these missiles, and if so, where they were keeping them.

Liara had made one more alarming discovery. One that worried Oriana a lot more than the missiles. To both of their surprise, it looked like Terra Firma and New Cerberus were cooperating with at least one other council race.

"I still don't get it," Oriana said to Liara. "Why would any of the other races be interested in subjecting to human control?"

Liara shrugged. "It doesn't make a lot of sense, but you know what this means?"

Oriana nodded. "We definitely can't involve the other councilors," she sighed.

Liara nodded back. "It's too dangerous. We cannot risk letting our enemies know how much we know. Now that we know about those missiles, we must be very careful not to force their hand."

Oriana leaned her head back as far as she could and stared into the ceiling.

"Liara?"

"Mmhm…"

"Why are humans so stupid and evil?" Oriana sighed.

Liara giggled.

"You are not. Not all of you. Even the asari have some bad eggs."

Oriana rose from her seat. She had to get back to her own office. She was still the representative of her species on the Council, and there was work to do. It felt silly and like a waste of time to worry about galactic politics when she should be helping Liara uncover more of the Coalition's secrets.

"Message me if you find anything," she told Liara.

The Shadow Broker nodded.

"Anything!" Oriana added sharply.

"Yes," Liara answered. "As soon as I know, you will know."

Satisfied, Oriana nodded and said goodbye to Liara.

On the way back to her own office, she met her assistant Gabriel.

"Hey, boss," he said happily. "I just came back from a meeting with those shuttle dealers. I think we can get them the license they want. But it will take a few months. You know… bureaucracy… Where have you been?"

"A meeting," Oriana said. Technically, it was true enough. She had met Liara.

"The geth councilor?" Gabriel asked.

"No," Liara said. "It was… private."

Gabriel gave her a weird look. He was not used to Oriana running off to take care of her private affairs in the middle of the day. Then his face lit up in a smirk.

"Did you and Tom… You know… Sneaky… In the middle of the afternoon…"

Oriana laughed. "And so what if we did, Gabe?"

"Did you really!?"

Oriana replied with a mysterious shrug. "Maybe we did, maybe we didn't."

"You so did!" Gabriel laughed, as he followed her back to the office. "You freaks."

Oriana giggled and allowed Gabriel to think what he wanted. For now, it was better than telling him the truth. She trusted him, as much as she trusted anyone, but for Gabriel's own safety, she would keep him out of this for now.

-X-X-X-

 **The Jon Grissom Academy**

Jennifer was feeling almost a sense of paranoia coming over her. As some of Prangley's closest relations, she and Charles had both received warnings that they were most likely being watched by the Alliance. Neither she or Charles were doing anything at the academy that could possibly interest an Alliance spy. But Jennifer really, really, really did not like the thought of someone watching her.

She had already been through their apartment, their office, the kids' rooms and all the classrooms in Ascension Hall, looking for electronic surveillance equipment. At the same time, she was suspicious of everyone. Everyone. This was a familiar feeling. almost like when she was young, and she had believed that the whole world was out to get her. But this time, it wasn't drugs or her own insanity that made her see enemies everywhere. Liara had warned her about Alliance spies, and Jennifer felt justified in mistrusting every single person on the station. After all, the majority of the people working on the station were Alliance employees, and Jennifer had her eye on all of them.

This morning, while Charles was teaching the students, Jennifer had planned to figure out who was spying on her. There was an Alliance guard who often patrolled the corridors near Ascension Hall. Jennifer was almost sure that she had seen the guard given her funny looks, and he had seemed to hang around near Ascension Hall even more than usual. Perhaps his patrol schedule had changed, or maybe… maybe Jennifer was right, and he was the spy.

Jennifer had always been a woman of action, and that was why the man was currently unconscious and tied to a chair in Jennifer and Charles' office. She looked down at the man and wondered how long it would take for him to wake up. She hadn't hit him that hard. Had she? She gave him a gentle slap with the back of her hand, and the guard's head rocked back and forth.

"Hellooo," she said, slapping him a little harder.

The man groaned weakly, and she could tell that his eyes were moving behind his closed eyelids.

"Good morning, Sergeant… Johnson," Jennifer said, reading the man's name off the ID card attached to his chest.

Johnson slowly blinked his eyes and groaned a little louder.

"What… What is happening?" he asked weakly, as he started to look around the office with blurry eyes. "Where am I?"

"My office," Jennifer said. "You know who I am, of course."

He nodded slowly. "Instructor Magnus."

"That's right," she said, smiling at him. "You know my first name, don't you, Johnson?"

"Jennifer?" he said, as if he was just guessing.

She gave him a friendly slap. "Correct," she whispered with exaggerated sweetness and grabbed a handful of Johnson's hair. "Now, what is your name, Johnson? I'd like to get on a first name basis here."

The man swallowed. "Ronald," he finally said.

"Great, Ronald," Jennifer said. "Before you and I have a chat, I will give you an opportunity. As you might have guessed, since I have you tied to this chair, I am a little bit mad at you. I will now give you the opportunity to tell me why you think I am mad."

This was actually not far from a parenting technique that Vera had told her about. When the kids were in trouble for something they had done, it could be used to make them admit their wrong-doings, which supposedly worked better than just shouting at them for whatever they had done.

Ronald was quiet, and Jennifer yanked his head back by his hair.

"I would strongly recommend you take this opportunity, Ronald," she said, staring into his eyes. The sergeant was obviously terrified. "What do you think might have made me a little bit mad at you?"

Jennifer was deliberately speaking very softly and with her sweetest voice, and it seemed to scare Ronald even more than if she had been shouting and hitting him.

Ronald still did not say anything.

"Ronaaald," Jennifer sang, running her fingers through the man's hair. "You are testing my patience. Let me assure you, you will have a better day if you just tell me instead of forcing me to make you talk."

Ronald stared up at her, absolutely horrified, but quiet.

Jennifer leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Last chance, Ronny-boy. What do you think you ought to tell me?"

"I… I don't know what you are talking about," Ronald said. He was sweating and visibly shaking.

"Hmm," Jennifer said, sitting down on the desk across from her prisoner. "Here's the problem, Ron. I think you _do_ know what the fuck I am talking about. The Alliance has probably taught you not to give up information if captured, but I promise you… You will tell me everything you know. Everything, Ronald. You just don't know it yet."

She stood up and started walking around the office.

"Oh, Ronald," she said, breathing a deep sigh, as he followed her every movement with his eyes. "Since you will not talk, I will tell you why I am angry with you."

She picked up a pair of pliers from her desk and walked over to him. Before Ronald knew what was going on, Jennifer had grabbed his right hand and pulled the nail off his thumb with the pliers.

"Aaaarghhhhh!" Ronald screamed, staring down at his now nail-less thumb.

As the blood slowly dripped onto the office floor, Jennifer grabbed Ronald's jaw and forced him to look into her eyes. "You have nine more of those, Ronald. Nineteen if you count the toes. Remember, you made me do this."

She placed the pliers around the nail on his next finger and watched as Ronald sobbed, unable to wipe his face clean of tears and sweat.

"The reason I am mad at you, Ronald," she said, pulling the nail out, very slowly this time. "Is because I believe that you are spying on me."

As she said the last word, the nail finally lost its grip on Ronald's forefinger. He screamed and cried even louder than before. Jennifer slapped him. Hard.

"CONCENTRATE, RONALD!" she roared.

When Ronald still didn't say anything, other than his whimpering sobs, Jennifer placed the pliers around his next nail.

"Stop! Please!" he cried.

"Are you spying on me, Ronald?" Jennifer asked calmly.

He hung his head in defeat. "I am just following orders," he sobbed.

"What orders?" Jennifer asked, loosening her grip on Ronald's fingers.

"To watch you and your husband, and Vera Vega… To report on your movements," he whispered. "To make sure you don't communicate with Commander Prangley."

Jennifer nodded. "Very good, Ronald. Now, who gave you those orders?"

He shook his head. "I am not sure. They were just sent to me on the normal Alliance channel."

Jennifer yanked another one of Ronald's fingernails out. He screamed and fought against his restraints.

"I told you!" he screamed. "I told you what you wanted to know!"

"No," Jennifer said, glaring at him. "You told me what I already knew."

As blood continued to drip from his fingers, Ronald started crying even harder. "What do you want from me?" he sobbed. "I was just following orders."

"Blindly, like an idiot," Jennifer said. "As for what I want… I want you to tell me everything you know about this corruption within the Alliance. The one that has framed Prangley as a traitor and made you think that it was a good idea to spy on me."

"Corruption?" Ronald said. "What do you mean? I don't know anything about any corruption. As far as I know, they were just ordinary Alliance orders."

Jennifer pulled on another nail, gently.

"Please, please, please," Ronald begged. "I swear, I don't know what you are talking about."

In that moment, the door to the office opened, and Luna and Atlas entered.

"Hi mum, want to go for lunch with us and da…" Luna said.

Jennifer looked back over her shoulder. She was still holding onto Ronald's nail with the pliers, and the sergeant was begging her to release him. Luna and Atlas stared at their mother and the bound man. Then they seemed to notice the pliers and Ronald's bloody fingers, still dripping into a growing pool on the floor.

Then Charles entered the office.

"What the fuck," he said, forgetting everything about the children in the room.

"This is Ronald," Jennifer said, smiling at her family.

"Who the fuck is Ronald?" Luna asked, disgusted with the blood and the nail-less bloody fingers.

Jennifer started to untie Ronald. Once she was done, she expected the man to jump out of the chair, but Ronald just sat and stared at his bloody hand.

Charles joined Jennifer next to Ronald.

"Is this about that message?" her husband asked.

Jennifer nodded.

"He doesn't know anything?" Charles then asked. Both Jennifer and Ronald shook their heads.

"He was spying on us though," Jennifer said quickly, to justify her treatment of Ronald and the fact that there was now blood on the floor of their shared office.

"Atlas and Luna, please go to Orion Hall," Charles said. "Your mother and I will meet you there."

Luna nodded, grabbed Atlas by the collar of his school uniform and dragged him out of the office.

Jennifer and Charles was left in the office with the still-sobbing Ronald.

"Oh shut up," Jennifer said. "They'll grow back. Probably."

"Jennifer…" Charles sighed.

"What?" she said innocently. "This man is spying on us. I didn't mean for the kids to see any of it."

"I was just following orders!" Ronald said with a trembling voice.

Charles sighed again, scratching his head. "And what should we do with him now?" he asked Jennifer.

She shrugged. "Kill him?"

"For following orders?"

Jennifer closed the distance between them and kissed Charles on the lips. It had been a few years since she had committed an act of violence. She had forgotten how horny it used to make her.

"Orders doesn't mean that he's innocent," she whispered against Charles' lips.

He smirked and winked at her. "And not being innocent doesn't necessarily mean that he deserves to die."

She sighed. "Okay. What do you suggest we do? If the Alliance is spying on us, how do you think they will react when they find out that we've harmed their spy?"

Charles cleared his throat, and Jennifer sighed. "Fine… that _I've_ harmed their spy."

She watched as Charles pulled Ronald to his feet. "Whoopsie Daisy," he groaned, supporting the Alliance Sergeant who looked light-headed and still scared. "That was all, buddy."

Jennifer watched as Charles gave Ronald a friendly clap on the shoulder and sent him out the door. Sergeant Johnson stood still in the hallway for a second, clasping his fingers with his healthy hand. He looked up and down Ascension Hall.

"You should probably go to the infirmary. Get that checked out," Charles said, pointing down the corridor to the exit to the rest of the station.

Ronald nodded and started walking slowly away from the office. Jennifer looked at her husband.

"Once the shock goes away he will report us… well, _me_ … he'll report me to the Alliance," Jennifer said, wondering if she could still catch and kill Ronald before he left Ascension Hall.

"They'll know either way," Charles said calmly, closing the office door behind him. "If we kill him, they'll wonder why he hasn't sent any reports. So we might as well spare his life and let him tell them what they want to hear… That we don't know anything, and that he didn't reveal anything of use to us."

"And he would be right," Jennifer sighed. "We don't know anything about what the fuck is going on!"

"I know," Charles said sympathetically, running his fingers through her hair. "I wonder what Prangley has gotten himself into…"

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

Prangley had to admit that he was excited about returning to his old school. He remembered how immature and full of himself he had been before Jennifer arrived and showed him that he was not necessarily the biotic hotshot that he liked to imagine.

The Jon Grissom Academy was where he had met his wife. And Sophia was as excited as him to see the school again. None of them had been back for several years, despite the fact that three of their closest friends worked there.

Prangley was not really sure how he would be received at the academy. He had been made an enemy of the Alliance. The academy was full of Alliance personnel, including the guards whose job it was to protect the station.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sophia asked. They were lying on their bed in the captain's cabin, she rested her head on his chest, and he was idly playing with her hair. "I mean… I'd like to see the school again too… But…"

"We are on the run?" Prangley finished for her.

"Yes," she sighed.

Prangley kissed the top of her head. "It's not about seeing the school. It's about recruiting Charles and Jennifer. According to Liara, the Alliance thinks that they are going to join me. I want to prove them right."

Sophia nodded. "I suppose they would be able to help. Particularly if we get into an actual battle with the Coalition."

"Honey," Prangley said seriously. "I think it's obvious that there will be a battle. Hell, I already lost three of my men."

A few hours later, the Normandy was orbiting Elysium and approaching the Jon Grissom Academy. Prangley would take part of his crew over to the station. The ones that were most likely to help him convince Charles and Jennifer to join him. EDI and Joker had decided to leave their daughter at the academy, since they were not comfortable with Hilary being on the ship while they had rogue status, so EDI's mother body, the one that she had built to be a non-combat copy of her primary body, and Joker had both joined Prangley on the shuttle that would take them to the station. Little Hilary was sitting between her parents, playing a handheld video game. A flying simulator that Joker had bought for her fifth birthday. Sophia was obviously there as well.

The shuttle landed inside Grissom's hangar, and Prangley stepped out as if there was nothing conspicuous about him, a wanted 'traitor', arriving at the school. He had decided that he would not try to sneak into the school or disguise himself in any way. This was his school, and he would enter it with pride.

After going through a security scan, Prangley was wondering why none of the guards had stopped him or said anything about his presence at the academy. On the other side of the security checkpoint, Kaidan Alenko was waiting, tapping his foot.

"I heard the Normandy was outside," he said, nodding politely at Prangley and the rest. "I've talked to our head of security. We can give you an hour before we have to alert Alliance Command."

"Thank you, Kaidan," Prangley said. "I owe you one!"

"A massive one," Kaidan said, looking very worried. "Care to tell me what the hell is going on? Why did you steal the Normandy?"

"It's better if you don't know," Prangley said, as he started to follow Kaidan deeper into the station.

"I thought that might be the case," Kaidan sighed. "Can you at least promise me that you won't cause trouble here?"

Prangley smiled. "I just need to talk to Jennifer and Charles."

Kaidan scratched his chin and nodded. "I need to go to a meeting. You know the way to Ascension Hall."

"Thanks again, Kaidan," Prangley said. "We'll make sure to be gone in an hour."

"I would if I were you," the Ascension Project head director said and left them alone.

Prangley signaled to the rest to follow him. If they only had an hour, he had to work quickly. As they walked through the station, they got quite a lot of attention. It was evening, so most of the corridors were relatively empty. Fortunately, the attention did not come from Alliance guards, but from students, who stopped in the hallway to stare at them.

EDI was getting most of the attention. The very human-like robot controlled by the super AI integrated into the Normandy systems was walking hand in hand with her five-year-old daughter. Little Hilary seemed to be as fascinated with all these children around her as they were with her robot mother. Hilary spent most of her time either on the Normandy with both her parents, or on the Citadel with EDI's secondary body, the one whose hand she was now holding. This lifestyle didn't offer many opportunities to interact with other children, and although Joker and EDI had made sure that she had playmates on the Citadel, Hilary had never seen so many children in one place before.

"Can I play with them?" Prangley heard Hilary ask her mother.

"Yes," EDI answered. "You and I will stay here while daddy works."

"You'll be accepted into their pilot program within a week," Joker said proudly, as he walked alongside his daughter, assisted by electronic leg braces.

Sophia laughed. "Have you considered, Joker, that maybe Hilary doesn't want to fly spaceships?"

"Pfff," Joker said in disbelief. "Who doesn't want to fly spaceships?"

But he turned expectantly to his daughter.

"I want to be like daddy!" the little girl laughed. "And to be smart like mommy."

"Daddy's smart too," Joker said.

"Yeah," Hilary said, sharing a secretive smile with EDI, "but not as smart as mommy."

"I feel a little outnumbered here," the pilot sighed.

Prangley felt Sophia slip her hand inside his as they entered Orion Hall. As soon as they walked into the enormous room where the students of the Jon Grissom Academy had all their meals, a swooping sensation rolled through his abdomen. Next to him, Sophia gasped and squeezed his hand. They were back.

A few students were sitting at the tables in the enormous room, some of them eating a late-night snack, others doing homework. A group of teenage-girls were discussing gossip at one of the round tables. They looked up as Prangley strolled by with his entourage, and he noticed that they were wearing the red uniforms of the Ascension Project. They appeared to be old enough to be at the advanced level, Charles and Jennifer's class.

"It's nice," Sophia said, "being back."

Prangley nodded. "Yes," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. While most of him was quite excited to be back at his old school, he was unable to forget that this was the place where the reaper war started for him, when Cerberus attacked the station and killed two of his childhood friends.

He squeezed his wife's hand, and she smiled at him like she knew exactly what he was feeling. They walked until they reached Ascension Hall. They wouldn't be able to enter the department without an ID card. Luckily, they were joined by Atlas who came running down the hallway with the Magnus family's enormous pet varren.

"Hi, uncle P" the 12-year-old said, stopping in front of the locked door. "Aunt Sophia. What are you all doing here?"

"Hi, Atlas," Sophia said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"We're here to see your parents," Prangley said. "Can you let us in?"

"Of course," Atlas said, smiling brightly.

Atlas grabbed the enormous varren by one of its long fangs and pulled it away from little Hilary, who looked terrified and tried to hide behind her mother's metal leg.

"Down, Eezo!" Atlas said, using his biotic powers to pull the enormous predator away from the scared girl.

Still holding onto Eezo's fang, Atlas pulled out his ID card and unlocked the door to the hallway where all the classrooms, offices and the gym belonging to the Ascension Project were located. Ascension Hall looked exactly like Prangley remembered.

"How's school, Atlas?" he asked curiously. He had heard Jennifer brag about her kids enough times to know that both Atlas and his sister were gifted.

"Awesome!" Atlas answered excitedly, leading Eezo down Ascension Hall by the fang. "The biotics lessons are so cool! The other subjects can be a bit boring sometimes."

Prangley chuckled. He remembered when he was in basics, like Atlas was now. He spent all his time in maths, history and the other normal classes waiting for his next biotics class. Once he turned 18 and reached the advanced class, the main focus was on combat biotics mixed with ordinary military training. That had been the best time in all his years in the Ascension Project.

"In here, boy," Atlas said, opening a door to an empty classroom and pushing Eezo inside. He then closed the door and turned to face the guests. "Come on then!"

Atlas purposefully crossed the hallway to his parents' office. He rang the doorbell, and shortly after Prangley was hugging his old friends, Charles and Jennifer Magnus.

"Great to see you," Charles said, as he also hugged EDI and Joker.

"Can we go inside?" Prangley asked. He had to do this quickly, before the Alliance was alerted to his presence at the academy.

All of them entered Charles and Jennifer's office.

"What the fuck is going on, Prangley?" Jennifer asked, while Joker covered his daughter's ears.

Prangley took a deep breath and then proceeded to explain everything that he knew about the situation that had led to his rogue status.

"Wait? What?" Charles said. "Cerberus is back?"

"New Cerberus," Prangley specified. "They're inspired by The Illusive Man's work."

"And what is going on in the Alliance?" Charles asked.

"Admiral Dechalé prevented me from investigating the ambush on Kotholo," Prangley said, wringing his hands. "He ordered me to keep the Normandy posted at the Citadel. Then he just disappeared."

"I still can't believe that Dechalé is working with the Coalition," Sophia sighed.

"And now," Prangley said seriously, "Liara tells me that the Alliance believes that you two," he pointed back and forth to his two old friends, "might try to help me."

For some reason, Jennifer smirked.

"What did you do?" Joker asked.

"She ripped a man's finger nails off!" Atlas informed them all loudly from the corner of the office.

"He was a spy," Jennifer defended herself.

"I think it's fair to say that the Alliance knows whose side we are on," Charles said.

Prangley started pacing the floor. "Then let's get down to business," he said. "The Alliance, or at least the corrupt part of it, is terrified that you will join me. I want to ask you to do just that."

"Yes," Jennifer decided immediately.

Charles turned his head quickly. "Yes?"

"Think about it," she said, "the Alliance knows that we are on Prangley's side. It's a matter of time before they come and arrest us, just to prevent us from helping."

"That is a likely outcome," EDI said, hoisting Hilary into her lap.

"Besides," Jennifer added. "These Coalition people are about to start another war on behalf of the human race. Don't you think we have an obligation to help stop them if we can?"

"But what about the kids?" Charles asked, gesturing to Atlas.

Jennifer placed a calming hand on her husband's arm. "They will be safe here," she said. "Alenko will protect them. And Vera."

"Oh, yeah," Sophia said. "Where is Vera?"

"At home with the kids," Charles answered.

"We don't have much time," Prangley reminded them all. "I could really use both of you on the Normandy, and it sounds like the Alliance already thinks you are working with me."

Jennifer, who was obviously already convinced, turned to Charles. "This is the right thing to do," she said.

Charles hesitated, but then nodded slowly.

"Atlas," Charles said, "please go and get your sister."

The boy nodded and left the room. While he was out looking for Luna, Jennifer called Kaidan and asked him to come join them.

Atlas returned first. Behind him, Luna Magnus entered the office. Seeing how Charles and Jennifer's 18-year-old daughter was now looking like a young adult made Prangley feel awfully old. Like Luna's father, Prangley was 38. Not that old, really. But seeing his friends' adult offspring reminded him, that he and Charles had been as old as Luna was now when they got involved in the war. He had felt so adult back then, but it was hard to imagine Luna as anything but a child.

"Hey, Uncle P," Luna said. The smile on her face was mixed with confusion. Clearly, Atlas had tried to explain the situation to her on the way back to the office.

"Luna…" Jennifer started, but was interrupted by her daughter.

"Atlas says you want to leave with Prangley to save the galaxy," Luna said, flipping a strand of her dark red hair out of her face. "Again..."

Next to her, Atlas nodded. Clearly, the details and the politics had gone over the head of the 12 year-old. To him, it came down to his parents getting to fight bad guys again.

Luna crossed her arms. She looked exceptionally skeptical about this idea. Atlas quickly copied his sister's stance.

Jennifer and Luna were staring each other down. Clearly, Jennifer had passed a lot of her stubbornness and feistiness onto her daughter. Maybe she was regretting that now. The mother-daughter staring competition ended in a draw when Prangley cleared his throat to remind them that time was of the essence.

"Fine," Luna said sharply. "I understand why you can't take the little one with you," she gestured to Atlas, who pouted, "but I am coming with you."

Jennifer snorted. "Absolutely not," she said.

"I'm coming with you," Luna repeated firmly.

"Nope," Jennifer said, and Charles nodded in agreement. "You will stay here with your brother."

"It's not fair!" Luna said angrily. "I can fight!"

Jennifer nodded.

"We know you can," she said, a little more calmly. "That's why you have to stay here and help Alenko and Vera protect Atlas."

"I can protect myself!" Atlas huffed. "And I want to come with you too."

"Don't be ridiculous," Luna said, turning to her brother.

"If you can, I can!" Atlas shouted.

"Stop it!" Charles ordered, and both of them were silent. "Your mother and I are going away for a while. You two will stay here. And you will stop fighting immediately."

Luna, who looked like she was boiling with rage, spun around and stormed out of the office. Atlas looked like he wanted to follow his sister, but the boy seemed to respect his parents a little more, so he stayed.

Kaidan entered the room and immediately checked the time on his omni-tool.

"We'll leave soon," Prangley promised.

Jennifer and Charles quickly explained to their boss that they were leaving with Prangley and asked him to keep an eye on Atlas and Luna. The head director of the Ascension Project didn't seem surprised that this was what Prangley had come to the school to do.

"Will you now tell me why you're robbing me of my instructors?" Kaidan asked.

Prangley shook his head. "Sorry, Alenko. As I said, it's better if you don't know."

"Will you look after Luna and Atlas?" Charles asked his boss.

"Of course," Kaidan sighed. "But take care of yourselves, you two. I expect you back as soon as this thing, whatever it is, is over. In the meantime, Vera and I will have to teach your classes."

Jennifer smiled. "Thank you, Kaidan."

It didn't take Charles and Jennifer long to pack their most important belongings. Meanwhile, Joker and EDI said their goodbyes. Of course, it wasn't really a goodbye, since EDI was actually onboard the Normandy along with her primary body. But for Joker, it was a goodbye to Hilary. Luckily, Hilary was used to being left with EDI's mother body on the Citadel during missions. The five-year-old handled the goodbye very well.

Atlas, who was saying goodbye to both his parents, was more emotional.

"You'll be fine with Luna and Vera and Kaidan," Jennifer assured her son.

"But what about you?" the 12-year-old sniffled.

"We're adults," Charles said, kneeling to allow Atlas to run into his arms. "This is something very important that your mother and I have to do."

"It sounded really dangerous," Atlas said.

"It might be dangerous," Jennifer admitted, kissing the top of her son's head. "But you have cool parents, right?"

Atlas nodded, and his frown disappeared for just a moment, replaced by the hint of a smile.

"I'll keep them safe," Prangley promised, giving the boy a confident wink.

Atlas hugged his parents again.

"Okay," he said, clearly trying to be brave. "Come back soon, okay?"

"Very soon," Charles assured him.

On the way back through the station towards the shuttle hangar, this time without EDI and Hilary, Charles and Jennifer insisted that they walk past Luna's room to say goodbye to her, even if she didn't want to talk to them. As it turned out, Luna was nowhere to be found. Prangley agreed to go around to Luna's classmates' rooms to look for her. They still had 15 minutes before the hour that Kaidan had given him was up. But then Kaidan came running down the corridor with Atlas right in his heels.

"You have to go!" he shouted. "Someone alerted the Alliance. They could be here anytime!"

"Shit!" Prangley cursed and turned to Charles and Jennifer. "I'm sorry. But we have to leave."

Jennifer nodded in understanding and used her biotics to lift Joker into the air.

"No," the pilot complained.

"Yes," she said and started running towards the shuttle hangar with Joker encased in a biotic field in front of her.

Prangley nodded, and the rest followed after. Once they reached the shuttle, Jennifer and Charles gave Atlas one final hug and left their son with Kaidan.

"We love you," Jennifer said, as she climbed into the shuttle. "Both you and Luna. Tell your sister when you find her."

Atlas nodded bravely, brushing away a tear with the sleeve of his uniform.

Prangley allowed Sophia to enter next, and, turning to Kaidan, he mouthed the words "thank you".

Kaidan nodded and put his arm around Atlas' shoulder. Prangley returned the nod, gave Atlas one last reassuring wink and climbed into the shuttle which took off immediately after.

 _"We have Alliance vessels en route,"_ EDI warned them over the shuttle's speakers. _"I'm bringing the Normandy to your position now. We should hit FTL speed within the next 143 seconds to bring us out of firing range."_

Prangley looked over at Charles and Jennifer. They looked nervous. Maybe it was because it had been a while since they had been in these adrenaline-pumping, life-threatening scenarios on a daily basis, or, more likely, it was because they had been unable to say goodbye to Luna.

As the shuttle landed inside the Normandy's shuttle bay, they all jumped out to realize that EDI was entertaining the crew with a countdown to their destruction over the PA system.

 _"We will be shot down in 20 seconds… 19… 18… 17… 16… 15… Powering up the engine… 14… 13… 12…"_

"Can you count in your head, darling?" Joker groaned, limping towards the elevator.

 _"11… 10… Okay… Engine ready… Hang on to something."_

Prangley grabbed Sophia's wrist with one hand and a pipe that ran along the bulkhead with the other. A whirring sound could be heard from the enormous Tantalus drive core, and then the Normandy accelerated much more quickly than what was usually advised.

Amazingly, Joker remained on his feet without holding onto anything or anyone as the Normandy shot out of its Elysium orbit at a highly illegal speed.

"I know my ship," he said, as Jennifer, who had grabbed onto Charles stared at him in confusion.

As they walked towards the elevator, Jennifer giggled to herself. Prangley assumed that it was because she was excited about being back in the field, back on the Normandy.

"You're getting old, Joker," she said as they stood in the elevator, taking them up to the bridge.

"Bullshit. I'm better than ever," he said.

Jennifer pulled off his trademark cap, not something that many people dared. Underneath the cap, Joker's hair was beginning to show tiny, tiny streaks of silver. The pilot had just celebrated his 50th birthday, which meant that he now had to take tests every year to demonstrate that he was still quick enough to retain his Alliance piloting clearance. Amazingly, Joker had beaten his own record, which also happened to be the navy record, every time he had taken the test in the last 15 years.

"You _are_ getting old," Jennifer said, putting Joker's cap back on his head. Even she knew not to mess with his hat too much. "At least no one can really tell that you've started moving like an old man, because you've always done that."

"Making fun of the disabled… That's pretty low, even for you, _Jack_ ," Joker replied, using the name that Jennifer had put behind her.

Jennifer ignored the retaliation, but smiled deviously at the pilot, and Charles rolled his eyes at Prangley who sighed knowingly. It was the same thing every time Jennifer and Joker got together. The two of them would constantly insult each other and make mean jokes. But both of them seemed to enjoy it immensely, even though, to outsiders, it could look like they absolutely detested each other.

The only topic that seemed to be sacred was their children. Luna, Atlas and Hilary were never a part of the insults, but a lot of the jokes revolved around their partners, EDI and Charles. Joker would still laugh at Jennifer for hooking up with one of her students, and Jennifer would make jokes about Joker's relationship with a supercomputer.

EDI, who was interested in human humor, had learned to laugh off Jennifer's name-calling. She had nothing against being referred to as 'Mom Bot' or 'Sex Bot' by Jennifer. She knew it was just said in an attempt to annoy Joker.

The elevator stopped in the CIC, and they all stepped out to meet EDI at the galaxy map.

"Hello again," she said.

"How are things at the academy?" Charles asked.

"Fine," EDI said. "The Alliance knows you two have left. They have not boarded the station at all."

"And how are the kids?" Joker asked.

"Hilary is with my other body. We are solving math problems," EDI said. "Atlas has gone out to talk to Luna."

"Good," Charles sighed in relief.

Jennifer smiled, as Joker limped forward to put his arm around EDI.

"I like this body better, EDI," Jennifer said. "I think it's the battle alloy, it makes your boobs look bigger."

Joker coughed, and Prangley shook his head. Having the Magnus couple, Jennifer in particular, back on the Normandy would definitely change things. Jennifer was straightforward and unconcerned with the opinions and emotions of most other people. He hoped that she would fit in with the rest of the crew. From some of the stares coming from the crewmembers in the CIC, he could tell that they were both amused and puzzled by this heavily tattooed woman whose first words had been about EDI's breasts. Personally, he was very happy to have both her and Charles on the ship. Now that he had been made an enemy of the Alliance, it was nice to have his friends close by.

-X-X-X-

 **Elysium**

Vera had arrived at the Jon Grissom Academy in the morning, just like she normally did. She had said hello to Alenko, just like normal. But from there, her day had been anything but normal. She had been told that she was supposed to teach not only her own basics classes, but also Charles' advanced level classes, because Charles and Jennifer had been recruited by Prangley for this thing he was investigating.

EDI and Hilary had moved into the academy, and Luna seemed to have locked herself in her room, refusing to even answer them when they called her name. It had been a long day.

She was not surprised at all that Jennifer and Charles had chosen to go with Prangley. Vera knew that Jennifer wanted excitement and adventure, and that she knew just which buttons to push to get Charles to follow her. She was a tiny bit hurt that Prangley had not asked her to come too, but she also knew that her answer would have been no. She had four children to look after.

She checked the time on her omni-tool as she unlocked the door to the house. She had half an hour before Vincent, Valentina, Mark and Antonio were coming home. Her day had been stressful, so she was looking forward to some time without screaming kids in the house. She kicked off her boots, hung up her jacket and made her way towards the living room, fully intent on using her 30 child-less minutes napping on the couch. But the couch was already occupied.

"James!" she gasped excitedly and ran to him. She jumped into his lap and kissed him firmly. "What a pleasant surprise! Listen, the kids won't be here for another… uhmm… 28 minutes, so how about you and I…"

"Baby," James interrupted, putting his index finger on her lips. "I don't have much time."

Vera looked out the large windows to the garden.

"Why did you park your shuttle in the backyard?" she asked, standing up from James' lap.

Outside the window, James shuttle had landed in the snow, and an Alliance soldier was standing guard in front of it. He was looking back at her through the window, and Vera was glad she hadn't taken her clothes off immediately as she had wanted to when seeing James.

"People don't need to know that I was here," James answered.

"You ARE here," Vera pointed out, crossing her arms.

"Not for long," James sighed.

"Don't you think you should let the children see their father? I think that would make them very happy," Vera said, trying not to sound too bitter.

"When this is all over, I will take two months leave," he promised, sounding genuinely sad. "We'll travel… Zegema Beach?"

"That would be nice," Vera sighed, sitting down on the couch next to him, discretely sliding her hand into his.

"I have to ask you a few questions," James said, giving her hand an almost apologetic squeeze.

She breathed another deep sigh. She had expected this. "About Charles and Jennifer?"

He nodded.

"Did Prangley ask you to join him too?" James asked, very quietly.

"No," she said. "I know nothing about it."

Looking out at the Alliance soldier outside, who was wafting his arms about as to not freeze in the cold Elysium atmosphere, Vera pulled out the message that Liara had sent to all of Prangley's friends. James read the message explaining that Prangley was investigating something serious involving the Alliance and that Vera and Prangley's other known associates were being watched.

"I trust Liara. I trust Charles and Jennifer, and I trust Prangley," Vera said, as her husband finished reading.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked "I promised that I would not harm Prangley, that obviously goes for the rest of them too. I just want to know what they think they know."

Vera nodded. Of course she trusted her husband. A tear was clinging on to her eyelashes, but James wiped it away.

"Yes," she whispered hoarsely, "but there is clearly something big going on. And if Oriana and Liara think that something is wrong with the Alliance, I am going to believe them."

James kissed her forehead.

"I have to follow my orders," he said. "Which are to bring Prangley in. If he would only talk to me and come willingly, this could be so easy."

Vera nodded. She knew how loyal James was to the Alliance. So was Prangley, which was why she suspected that whatever was going on had to be very serious. Otherwise, Prangley would never have gone rogue. She hoped that James would be successful in communicating with Prangley. Maybe, if James knew whatever Prangley knew, her husband would be on Prangley's side. She hoped everything would sort itself out before anybody got hurt.

She checked the time.

"The kids will be home soon," she said. "Are you sure you can't stay, just for dinner?"

Prangley rose from the couch, and pulled her into his embrace.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm on my way to Omega."

"Omega?"

He nodded. "Prangley recruited Charles and Jennifer… I think Kurt might be next."

"Kurt…" Vera said sadly, thinking about her old friend. "James… Please don't drag Kurt into this."

"Te quiero, mi amor," James said, kissing the top of her head. "I swear, I will keep your friends safe."

Vera looked up at him, saw the sincerity on his face and kissed him. She watched sadly as he walked out into the backyard. The soldier by the shuttle looked grateful that he no longer had to stand in the cold, as he saluted his captain. James gave her one last look through the living room window, and she blew him a kiss. Then he climbed into the shuttle and a few moments later it took off. Vera was still staring at the holes the shuttle had left in the snow, when the front door was opened and the unmistakable noise of her four children coming home from school filled the house.

She put on a brave smile and ran into the foyer to greet them.

"Hi kids, did you have a good day?"

-X-X-X-

 **The Citadel**

Kolyat and his wife Vidani, the crown-princess of the drell royal family, were walking down one of the main avenues of the Presidium. As the captain of the royal guard and responsible for the safety of the only heir to the drell throne, Kolyat was not too happy that his wife had insisted that she would be safe with him as her only protection. He had wanted to bring one of his highly-trained security teams, which would have allowed him to feel like he was actually on holiday. As it were, Kolyat felt like he constantly had to be on his toes.

The trip to the Citadel was actually meant to be a holiday for him and his wife. He had already shown her the freshly-renovated neighborhood where he used to live and a few of his favorite places on the Presidium. But they did also have a more serious purpose for coming to the hub of galactic politics. Vidani's father, King Toro, was sick. He would die soon. Most drell did not know it yet, but Vidani was likely to be crowned Queen of the drell within a few months. While Vidani was obviously sad that her father was terminally ill, King Toro's conservative views were threatening the very existence of their race.

Kepral's Syndrome would undoubtedly make Kolyat's race extinct if they did not move to a planet that was more fitting to their biology. But Toro was deaf to Vidani's pleas. With Kolyat's and Oriana Lawson's help, she had assured a deal with the quarians, allowing the drell to move from Kahje to Rannoch, a planet perfectly suited to the drell. King Toro, however, insisted that the drell should only leave Kahje, where they had survived so far thanks to the hanar, if they could return to the origin of their species. Rakhana, the drell home planet, could not support life, which was why the hanar had had to save Kolyat's race in the first place, but some drell still expected the royal family to lead the drell back to the home planet someday. The younger, more progressive generation, Vidani's generation, had given up on the pipe dream that a return to Rakhana seemed to be, but King Toro and some of the older members of parliament were getting in the way of Vidani's plan to move the drell to Rannoch. They would only move for Rakhana. Nothing else.

For this reason, Vidani and Kolyat had to admit that the death of the king would most likely benefit their species, however sad it was. Because of Toro's approaching death, Vidani had come to the Citadel, not only as a tourist, but to speak to the drell councilor. She needed to make sure that she could count on his support when she became queen and started her campaign to finally move the drell to Rannoch.

This visit to the drell embassy on the Citadel was next on their schedule, and Kolyat could tell that his wife was getting nervous.

"Councilor Okra will support you," Kolyat said in an effort to calm down the princess.

"How sure are you of that?" she asked.

"Very sure," Kolyat said after a short pause. "He has been brave enough to openly criticize the conservatives in parliament, and your father, in the past. If he supported your viewpoint before, he will again when you are queen."

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Kolyat."

He looked over at her. The artificial sunlight of the citadel was making Vidani's orange scales glow with a pinkish tint. She was breathtakingly beautiful. There was a certain amount of pressure on them to ensure that the royal bloodline would continue, and, looking at his wife in the sunlight, there was nothing that Kolyat wanted more than to make babies with her. But they had agreed not to procreate before the drell had moved to Rannoch. That didn't stop Kolyat from wishing that their meeting with councilor Okra would be over quickly so that they could get back to their hotel. Just because they didn't want babies just yet, there was nothing wrong with a little practice.

While Kolyat was fantasizing, he and Vidani were stopped by a group of human C-Sec officers.

"Princess di Toro and Captain Krios?" the leader of the C-Sec squad asked unnecessarily. There weren't that many drell on the Citadel.

Vidani nodded.

"I am sorry, Princess, but I have orders to put you and your husband under arrest," the officer said.

"What! Why?" Vidani asked, as Kolyat instinctively moved between his wife and the group of C-Sec-officers.

"You are under suspicion of planning to aid your known associate, the rogue Commander Jason Prangley," the C-sec leader explained professionally.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, Kolyat quickly revisited the memory of reading Liara's warning that Prangley had gone rogue and that Kolyat could expect to be put under surveillance.

"I am not here to help anyone. I am on my way to an official diplomatic meeting," Vidani said sharply.

"I'm sorry, but orders are orders," the C-Sec officer said, approaching Vidani with a pair of electronic handcuffs.

Now, Kolyat stepped fully between his wife and the officer. "You will not put those things anywhere near my wife!"

He was fully expecting to engage in combat with the entire C-Sec squad, when Tom Domino, Oriana's partner, stepped out of an elevator.

"Stand down everyone," Domino said, trying to defuse the tension. Not surprisingly, a small crowd had gathered to watch how things played out.

"Spectre Agent Domino," the C-Sec officer in charge said, lowering the handcuffs.

Domino walked with long strides and stopped right in front of the officer. Kolyat was close enough to hear their quiet conversation.

"You are risking a diplomatic crisis here," Domino hissed. "I'm sure you are aware that this is Vidani di Toro and her husband, you are arresting…"

"This is C-Sec business, Spectre," the officer retorted coldly.

"And last I checked," Domino bit back, "the spectres and Citadel Security were both governed by the Council… And I believe my spectre authority makes C-Sec business my business."

Kolyat was surprised when the C-Sec officer physically pushed Domino away and raised his voice.

"Piss off, Spectre! Or I will arrest you too and we will see what good your authority will do you. Commander Prangley is a traitor to humanity, and I will not let these lizards go before they tell me where he is hiding."

With Domino out of the way, the officer once again approached Vidani with the handcuffs. But Kolyat was much, much quicker, and he put the cuffs around the man's own wrist and locked him together with one of the other C-Sec officers. In the meantime, Domino had recovered and knocked out another officer with a nasty uppercut. While Kolyat put the two interlocked officers to sleep, Domino choked out the last one.

Kolyat stood over the unconscious C-Sec officers, looking at Tom Domino, who was already showing the crowd his spectre ID to prove that he was not just some civilian who had helped two suspects incapacitate a squad of C-Sec officers.

Domino then approached Kolyat and Vidani.

"Follow me, quickly," he said.

Domino led them into the elevator he had just arrived with. As the elevator doors closed, he brought out his omni-tool and spoke quickly into it.

"I got them," he simply said. "Yes, they're fine. But, listen, I think it's time… Yes… Okay… Meet me at Liara's office in 10 minutes."

"Was that Oriana?" Kolyat asked.

Domino nodded.

"What the hell is going on?" Vidani demanded to know.

The elevator door opened and Domino started leading them towards Liara's information broker office.

"You'll know very soon. As soon as we are safe," Domino promised.

At the office, they were greeted by Liara herself. The office was bustling with activity. Liara's asari assistants were busy packing computers into secure metal suitcases.

"Oriana warned me," Liara said to Domino before welcoming Kolyat and Vidani. "I'm afraid we can't stay here. As you've seen, the Citadel is not safe anymore. I'm glad Tom reached you in time."

"Liara sent me," Domino explained, helping one of the assistants with a heavy suitcase.

"Where are you going? What is going on?" Vidani asked.

"We are going to a secret place, Princess. I know a VERY good one. I would strongly recommend you two come along. As you've seen, they are getting suspicious around here."

"Not until we know what is going on!" Kolyat demanded. "What is Prangley up to?"

"I promise, I will tell you as soon as we are on my ship," Liara said. "Right now we have to hurry, or I might have to steal my own ship, just like Prangley did with the Normandy."

A few minutes later, Oriana came running through the door followed by a young man who Kolyat recognized to be her assistant Gabriel.

"I couldn't… leave… Gabe," Oriana panted, out of breath. "No way… of telling… what they would do… to him!"

Gabriel looked around at the other people in Liara's office. Just like Kolyat and Vidani, the assistant looked quite confused by the entire situation. He recognized Kolyat and Vidani. They had met during their meetings with Oriana regarding the drell moving to Rannoch.

"Princess, Captain Krios," he said, nodding respectfully.

Liara seemed okay with Oriana bringing Gabriel along, and they were soon walking, along with Liara's entourage of asari employees, to the docks.

"Whoa," Gabriel said, as they reached the private docks. "Doctor T'Soni… I had no idea you had such a huge ship."

Liara just nodded and hurried all of them onto her ship. Kolyat looked back at Vidani, who nodded at him, and they boarded Liara's ship, which took off immediately after.

-X-X-X-

 **The Lair of the Shadow Broker**

Oriana sat down in a soft couch in the room that she and Tom had been given. As it turned out, the space station that Liara had taken them to was enormous. Tom was helping Liara's assistants set up the equipment they had brought from the Citadel.

Liara entered the room.

"I trust you have figured out where we are?" Liara said, sitting down next to Oriana, who nodded.

"The Lair of the Shadow Broker," Oriana said.

"Yes," Liara said. "My real office, I guess you could say. This station is practically impossible to find if I don't want you to find it. We should be safe here."

Kolyat, Vidani and Gabriel had been shocked to hear why Prangley had been forced to take the Normandy. Oriana couldn't blame them. It was hard to imagine, in this time of peace, that New Cerberus and Terra Firma would form a coalition in order to take out the council and place humans in power. The fact that both the Alliance and C-Sec were involved in it made it all twice as bad. On top of all this, there was still the mystery of another council race that was possibly related to the messy situation.

At this point, it would not be long before the public figured out that something was wrong. Oriana knew this. She was a councilor, the human representative at the highest level of galactic politics. She couldn't just disappear without anyone taking notice.

Oriana had to admit that she was shocked that the Coalition apparently had the power and the influence to infiltrate both the Alliance and C-Sec in a way that had driven both Prangley and herself away from the Citadel. It was frightening, and she was more and more convinced that the risk of the Coalition actually carrying out their planned assassination of the Council was very, very real. Oriana was worried that her sudden disappearance would make the situation even worse than it already was. There was no telling how Terra Firma and New Cerberus would react. It wasn't completely unlikely that they would take this opportunity to attack the rest of the Council.

Liara seemed to be just as worried. She had taken them to her secret lair. Oriana knew that Liara was the Shadow Broker, but the others did not. Liara would never have taken them to the lair unless she absolutely had to.

Kolyat and Vidani had been caught in the middle of something that had very little to do with them. All they had done, really, was being friends of Jason Prangley. Oriana felt bad for them. Over the years, she had grown very fond of Kolyat and the drell princess. She had worked closely with them on the enormous project of moving the drell to Rannoch, and she was sad that it hadn't happened as of yet, despite all their hard work. It was tragic that the two drell who were at the very front of a project with the potential to save their race had now been dragged into another crisis.

"We can continue our work here," Oriana sighed, agreeing with Liara. "With Jennifer and Charles on board, Prangley will be ready to go to work. We need to give him something to investigate."

Liara nodded.

"I am watching Alliance and C-Sec channels, particularly for any suspicious behavior from human officers," she said.

Oriana scratched her neck tiredly.

"Good," she said. "The Coalition won't be using official channels to influence these people directly. But maybe we can figure out where these orders, like the one to arrest Kolyat and Vidani are coming from."

Tom entered the room, and Liara turned to leave.

"Your people are back at work, T'Soni," Tom said.

"Thank you for your help," Liara said, as Tom joined Oriana on the couch.

Oriana noticed how worried Liara looked as she glanced back at them. As the broker, she had to be very displeased with the fact that the Coalition was successfully hiding so many aspects of their plan from her.

"Our next focus should be the missiles," Liara said, lingering in the door.

Oriana nodded. Early on, Tom had suspected the Coalition of being in possession of some powerful weapon. Later, Liara had confirmed this weapon to be an unknown number of extremely dangerous missiles. As of yet, there were still many unknowns about these missiles. They still had no idea if the Coalition actually had the missiles already, or if they were planning on stealing or buying them. This meant that they also did not know anything about the exact nature or location of these missiles.

"We need to find them," Tom agreed, grabbing Oriana's hand.

Oriana agreed. If they could locate the missiles, they could disarm them and possibly find the Coalition itself.

"Get some rest," Liara said, giving them a tired smile. "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

The asari turned to leave.

"Hey," Oriana called, and Liara turned her head. "That goes for you too, Doctor."

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

Luna was getting terribly hungry. She hadn't had anything to eat at all since back at the Jon Grissom Academy. She was almost starting to regret sneaking onto Prangley's shuttle.

After the shuttle had landed and the shuttle bay was clear of people, while most of the crew members were asleep, she had jumped out of the shuttle and found a place to hide in an empty shipping crate in one of the cargo holds on the engineering deck. She was not quite sure how long she had been hiding, but her dry throat and rumbling stomach made it feel like it had been several days. It probably hadn't.

She had learnt that the cargo hold was only very rarely visited, so instead of sitting inside the dark and claustrophobia-inducing shipping crate, Luna was sitting behind it, wondering if she should try to sneak up to the kitchen to steal some food. Up until now, she had decided against it. The crew deck was always crowded. She might as well just find her parents and admit what she had done, despite their expressed order to stay at the academy with Atlas.

Right now, it was hard to remember exactly what she had been thinking when she decided to become a stowaway on the most famous frigate in the Alliance Navy. She had just been so angry that her parents were treating her as a child, as if she was just 12, like Atlas. But, she had to admit, hiding on the Normandy without any chance to get involved in her parents' latest adventure, was not much more exciting than her classes back at the academy. Thinking about school, she imagined what it would be like sitting in Orion Hall at that very moment. She could be having dinner with her classmates. All the food she wanted, and she could sleep in her own warm bed instead of in a dark and cold shipping crate.

While Luna was re-evaluating her rebellious nature, a female voice coming out of the loudspeaker on the wall interrupted her thoughts.

 _"Hi, Luna,"_ it said.

Luna, who had jumped at the sudden noise, peeked over the lid of her crate to confirm that she was still alone in the room. "EDI?"

 _"Duh?"_ EDI said playfully. _"I know you have been hiding here."_

"You do?"

 _"Please…"_ EDI said, sounding almost offended. _"I AM the Normandy. In a sense, it is my third body… Well… Maybe actually my first body, and the two others are number two and three… Doesn't matter, the point is: You are within me, of course I knew you were here. I saw you sneak into this room. I see everything."_

Luna was almost relieved that it wasn't _that_ easy to sneak onto the Normandy unnoticed. Also, it was nice to talk to someone. And she had always thought that EDI was cool.

"You haven't told my parents that I am here," Luna concluded, wondering why.

 _"How do you know I haven't told them?"_ EDI asked, obviously trying to sound very mysterious.

Luna smirked. "Because mum would have stormed in here and ripped my head off immediately. Why haven't you told them?"

 _"Because I like a bit of excitement as much as the next sentient, hyper-advanced super AI,"_ EDI responded.

"So modest…" Luna giggled.

 _"Are you hungry?"_ EDI asked. _"You humans tend to get so weak without proper nutrition."_

Luna was just about to say that EDI wasn't worth much unless she had access to some power source either, but she had to admit that she was starving. She nodded, knowing that the security camera in the room would see her.

She then heard a noise outside the door and quickly dropped down behind the crate.

 _"It's just me, bringing you food,"_ EDI said.

Luna stood back up, and the door opened to reveal EDI's body, carrying a tray full of sandwiches and several bottles of water.

"Room service," the AI said, as the door closed behind her. This time, the voice was coming from her body, whose mouth was moving in time with the words.

"Thank you, EDI," Luna said, grabbing the tray and placing it on a crate. "You are my favorite robot-lady, I promise."

EDI crossed her arms, simulating human skepticism perfectly. "Oh, because you know so many _robot-ladies…_ "

Luna opened one of the bottles of water to satisfy her most urgent need. She also realized that she would soon need to pee. "You know," she said to EDI. "You knew I was here all along. You could have brought me this sooner. Not that I'm complaining, but why did you wait?"

EDI shrugged.

"I wanted to see what you would do on your own. I expected you to come out and reveal yourself, but I guess you are as stubborn as your mother," she said.

Luna grinned. She had definitely heard that before.

EDI watched as Luna started on her food.

"Where are we? Where are we going?" Luna asked curiously.

"We are currently refueling," EDI said. "Most of the crew is sleeping, which is why I could bring you the food. Since I don't eat, it would look very suspicious if anyone saw me carrying a tray around."

"Are my parents asleep too?" Luna asked.

"I just checked the cameras. They are in bed. But definitely not sleeping. I don't think you'll want me to be more specific than that."

"Ew, disgusting, EDI!"

The AI smirked, and Luna was not at all sure if she had been kidding or not.

"Who is not sleeping?" Luna then asked, wondering if she could sneak out to go to the bathroom.

"Besides your disgusting parents, you mean? Well, there's Jeff on the bridge, he likes to oversee the refueling. Then there are a couple of engineers. They are busy right next door to us. There is also a navigation specialist and a communications officer. Both are at their stations in the CIC. Then, of course, there's you and me. But I don't really count, I never sleep," EDI said, finishing with a wink.

"Thank you for the food," Luna mumbled through the semi-masticated sandwich in her mouth.

"I should get back up to Jeff," EDI said. "I promised to help him stay awake during the refueling."

The AI was getting ready to leave, but before she did, she turned to face Luna.

"Hey," she said, sounding more serious than before. "You've had your fun, Luna. You ought to reveal your presence here to your parents."

"I will think about it," Luna replied, meaning it. It was not much fun hiding in the cargo hold.

"Good," EDI said. "When they wake up would be a good time, I think."

With those words, EDI left the cargo hold, and Luna was alone once again.

It wasn't long before Luna realized that the water and food had given her a very urgent need to pee, so she turned to the camera in the corner.

"Sorry to bother you, EDI, if you were busy rubbing Joker's shoulders…"

 _"I was actually,"_ EDI said, _"lucky for you, rubbing shoulders and simultaneously carrying out a conversation in a different room is well within my capabilities. How can I help?"_

Again, Luna was not sure if EDI was telling the truth about rubbing Joker's shoulders. She probably wasn't.

"I need to pee," Luna announced. "Can you tell me if the hallway is clear?"

 _"Aw,"_ EDI sighed condescendingly, _"The human has to go pee-pee!"_

"Do I need to remind you that you have a human daughter?" Luna asked, laughing at EDI's baby voice.

 _"Fair point," E_ DI said. _"Yes, you should be able to make it to the bathroom and back without getting noticed."_

Luna winked to the camera. "Thanks! Happy rubbing!"

EDI responded by playing a loud dripping noise through the loudspeaker, making Luna feel like she had to pee even more. Still, she could not help but smile as she opened the door and snuck out of the cargo hold.

To reach the bathroom, she had to take the elevator up one level, to the crew deck. As EDI had promised, she didn't meet anyone on her way to the bathroom, and she was able to pee in peace. Afterwards she washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror. She had to admit that her makeup and hair had looked better. She looked like what she was, a stowaway. She found an elastic hair band in the pocket of her Ascension Project uniform and made a ponytail out of her hair. Taking another look in the mirror, she came to the conclusion that this red shade was definitely not the worst of the many colors she had put her hair through. Perhaps she should settle for this. Perhaps.

People often told her that she looked like her mother. I was usually meant as a compliment, and Luna was not exactly dissatisfied with the comparison. Her mother was cool. She had awesome tattoos, of which Luna still had none, although she had been determined to change that since her early teens. Her mother was often mistakenly estimated as being around 30, when really she was in her mid-forties. Luna hoped that she would age well too. Being compared to Jennifer was not too bad, and now that Luna had grown into a young adult, her body proportions were almost exactly like her mother's. It was a good thing she had a different hair color, to set herself apart from Jennifer. Perhaps she should rethink getting tattoos. She was fine with a well-meant comparison here and there, but she did not want to be an exact copy of her mother.

She frowned at the state of her makeup, but without her tools, there wasn't much she could do about it. She cared a lot about her appearance, even in this situation where she was actively trying not to be seen by anyone. She just felt better, knowing that she looked as good as possible. That was a big difference between Luna and her mother. Jennifer did not seem to care much, she just somehow always seemed to look nice. One of the other distinguishing features that set Luna apart from her mother was her eye color. Both she and Atlas had inherited their father's blue eyes, while their mother's eyes were darker than anything Luna had ever seen on another human.

She and Atlas knew about their mother's troubled past. They knew that she had been the subject of a biotic experiment carried out by an evil organization called Cerberus, and that the experiment was most likely the reason they had been able to inherit biotic powers, when other children of biotic parents did not. They also knew that their mother did not like to talk about her youth. Jennifer Magnus did not spend a lot of time talking about her past, but when she did, she often made it sound like her life didn't start until her early twenties, when she met Commander Shepard. Naturally, Luna was curious about her mother's past, but since it obviously wasn't something that her mother wanted to discuss, she and Atlas had learned to accept that information would come slowly and in small bites. Luna didn't care. Although she could admit to having a rebellious streak, she liked her mother, and she liked that her mother was not like other moms.

Staring into the mirror, thinking about her parents, Luna realized that she had come to a decision. She had to reveal to her parents that she was on the Normandy. They would find out sooner or later anyway. EDI had practically told her that if she didn't reveal herself, the AI would.

Since she was now definitely going to come clean, there was no reason to spend the night in the stupid box, so she decided to take the elevator up another deck, to the bridge. She could talk to EDI and Joker and maybe sleep in one of the chairs in the cockpit.

While she was in the elevator, there was a sudden loud sound, seemingly coming from outside the ship. Luna assumed it meant that the Normandy was done refueling and had been released from the fuel station. But half a second later, the deafening beeping of an alarm filled the elevator followed by EDI's voice:

 _"ALL HANDS ON DECK! ALL HANDS ON DECK! WE ARE BEING BOARDED! WE ARE BEING BOARDED!"_

While the alarm continued to howl, another loud banging noise rang through the ship, and Luna instinctively pressed herself against the back wall of the elevator.

 _"ALL HANDS ON DECK! ALL HANDS ON DECK!"_ EDI repeated her ship-wide alarm.

For a split-second, Luna considered if this could be another one of EDI's stupid jokes. But then the elevator doors opened, and Luna looked out into the CIC, which was lit by flashing red lights and filled with the same noise of the beeping alarm.

The elevator doors started to close again. No doubt because someone else was trying to hail the elevator to another deck. Luna made a quick decision, mostly on instinct, and jumped out between the closing doors. Kneeling behind the galaxy map, she could see two people in Alliance uniforms, standing in the connection from the CIC to the bridge with their pistols out, aiming at the airlock. Luna concluded that these two must be the navigation specialist and the communications officer that EDI had said were working in the CIC.

From the airlock, more loud metallic noises made Luna duck down behind the galaxy map. Someone was clearly trying to get in. With one enormous blast, they succeeded, and the navigation specialist and the communications officer started firing their pistols at someone that Luna still couldn't see. Then, to her horror, Luna watched as the two crew members both fell to the floor, killed in an instant by a barrage of bullets from fully automatic assault rifles. She would have screamed, but it felt as if all the air in her lungs had already been pushed out.

As a student of the Ascension Projects advanced class, she had fired training weapons before, and she had seen classmates brought to the floor, crippled by electric shock. There was no comparison to this. Nothing could possibly have prepared her for the brutality of what she had just seen.

Through the airlock, a group of fully-armored and heavily armed Alliance marines moved into the flashing red light of the CIC, advancing in a formation that Luna was sure she had heard about in one of her combat classes. She could not recall its name, but there seemed to be six or maybe seven of them. It made her sick to see that the marines' armor was the exact same blue color as the uniforms of the two Normandy crew members they had just murdered.

The marines did not seem to have noticed Luna, but three of them stopped just by the bodies of the two dead crew members and took aim at the elevator, ready to open fire again. Luna stayed low, hiding behind the galaxy map. Looking back at the elevator, Luna realized that anyone reacting to EDI's alarm would soon arrive with the elevator and run straight into a hailstorm of bullets. She felt as if something heavy was pushing on her chest, when it dawned on her that the people stepping out of the elevator could be her parents.

Mustering all the bravery she could, Luna took two deep breaths and stood up from behind the galaxy map. She had not expected the marines to open fire on her immediately, but they seemed very surprised by the sudden appearance of a young woman right in front of them. Luckily, Luna managed to raise a barrier just in time for it to soak up the bullets.

Luna gasped as her barrier started to flicker, and a bullet that had managed to pass through, whizzed past her head. She had never had to maintain a barrier under live weapons fire before, and it surprised her how much energy it took to keep out high-energy projectiles. She pushed more energy into the barrier and advanced on the three marines in front of her.

Realizing that the barrier was holding, the marines stopped shooting and started moving towards Luna.

"Get on the ground!" one of them ordered. "You're under arrest!"

Luna shook her head. She was scared and very confused. She did not understand why these people, who appeared to be Alliance marines, were shooting at her. It seemed odd that they would attempt to kill her and then try to arrest her after. In any case, she was not going to lay down on the ground.

"Get down!" the marine shouted, as all three of them raised their weapons, aiming at Luna's head.

Luna shook her head again and maintained her barrier.

Behind her, there was a noise from the elevator. Someone was arriving to the CIC. All three marines immediately turned to aim at the elevator, and Luna reacted immediately. She dropped her barrier and focused all her biotic power on attacking instead. The first two marines did not have time to react before Luna had thrown them against the bulkhead, killing them on impact. The other marine spun towards her, but Luna drove a fist, encased in a biotic energy field, through his visor. She hardly even felt any resistance as her hand crushed the man's skull. As the marine's body fell to the floor, Luna pulled back her hand in shock. Due to her lack of experience, she forgot to maintain the biotic field around her hand for long enough, and as her hand exited the marine's helmet, Luna cut the back of her hand on the broken glass.

She winced as the blood started to pour out of a deep gash in her hand. From the cockpit, she heard more gunfire, and Luna forgot all about her hand. She jumped over the body in front of her and landed safely on the other side of the blood pool that was spreading from the broken visor of the dead marine. Without hesitation, she ran up a short flight of stairs and down the narrow walkway with work stations on both sides. Further up ahead, she saw EDI standing between Joker and the one marine who was still alive.

Luna froze. Joker was clearly badly injured. He appeared to have been shot in the shoulder. Still, he was working on the controls in front of him to get the Normandy away from the fuel station.

EDI was holding on to the weapon of the surviving marine, pointing the barrel up into the ceiling, far away from Joker. Her facial expression was scary. Extremely scary. Luna had never seen her AI 'aunt' looking less human. The marine tried to yank his rifle out of EDI's grasp, but he could not match her superhuman strength. Instead, EDI slammed the man down to the floor and crushed him with a brutal crunching noise. Luna was not sure which of the nauseating noises were due to the marine's bones breaking and which came from the armor, but she had to turn around in disgust.

"Luna!"

She had spun right into her father's arms. Behind him, her mother was staring at her with an incredulous look on her face.

"Umm! Hi dad, hi mum," she said, taking a step back, where she nearly tripped over the body of one of the dead marines.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" her mother asked, pushing past Charles.

Before Luna could answer, Prangley rushed past all of them to the cockpit, demanding a report from Joker and EDI. Luna's mother, however, seemed much more interested in the presence of her daughter on the Normandy than the dead Alliance marines on the floor.

"I was…" Luna started her defense.

"You were a fucking idiot!" Jennifer interrupted furiously.

Her father grabbed Luna's wrist and held up her hand in front of his face. "Are you okay?" he asked, inspecting the still-bleeding cut.

Luna nodded silently. The adrenaline rushing through her body numbed the stinging in her hand, but it did not do much to make her feel more comfortable in the sudden presence of her parents. Behind her, EDI had taken over control of the Normandy, while Prangley was carrying the injured Joker down to the med bay.

"Why do you never listen to me?" Jennifer asked angrily.

"I DO listen," Luna replied. "But it's not fair! When dad was my age…"

"There was a war on!" her mother shouted.

Luna kicked the body of the marine on the floor. "What do you call this then?"

"Luna, you could have been killed!"

"By Alliance soldiers," Luna said darkly. "I think you are focusing on the wrong thing, Mum! Why the fuck were we just attacked by our own navy?"

Luna did not understand. From what she had heard at the Academy, Prangley was in trouble with the Alliance, and her parents were obviously involved, and obviously on Prangley's side. After all, she and Atlas had caught their mother pulling an Alliance guards finger nails off. But clearly, she had not understood the gravity of the situation. She had not expected to see Alliance soldiers shooting and killing each other.

"It's complicated," her father sighed.

"Try me!" Luna demanded. "I was almost killed. I deserve to know!"

"No!" Jennifer yelled. "You don't deserve shit! If you had listened to us, you would have been perfectly safe back home."

While Luna and her parents were shouting at each other, Prangley returned from the med bay. They all paused.

"How's Joker?" Charles asked.

"He'll be okay," Prangley said, kneeling down next to the two crew members who had been killed.

There was a long uncomfortable silence in the CIC. Even Luna and her mother had stopped yelling at each other, as Prangley inspected the dead. The captain of the Normandy had not even acknowledged Luna's mysterious presence on his ship at all.

"EDI, inform the doctor that both Gerrans and Yang did not make it. Once he is done with Joker, I want them prepared for transport. We'll send them home to their families."

"Yes," EDI replied from the cockpit. "I will inform the med bay."

Prangley fell to his knees next to his fallen crew mates and punched the floor several times.

"Arghh!" he shouted, and Luna took a half step back behind her father.

At that moment, Sophia Prangley arrived at the CIC. She took in the horrific scene, and her eyes landed on her husband, on all fours, panting with rage and frustration.

"Engineering is fine, EDI," Sophia informed. "Just get us far away from here."

She then hurried over to her husband, who was staring at the Alliance soldiers that Luna had killed in disbelief.

"Alliance killing Alliance…" he muttered. "On the Normandy… My fucking ship…"

Sophia pulled him to his feet. "We will figure this out," she said strongly, turning him away from the bodies. "I promise."

Prangley seemed to come to his senses and remembered that he was supposed to be the officer in command.

"EDI," he said, straightening up. "Liara provided us with coordinates, right?"

"Yes, Commander Prangley."

"Is the ship fully space-worthy?"

"Yes. The boarding only caused very superficial damage to the hull. The airlock is 100 percent functional, although I will recommend an in-depth analysis in the next port."

"Alright," Prangley said. "Take us to Liara."

He then turned around. "Oh, hey, Luna," he said, as if there was nothing odd about her presence on his ship. She guessed he had bigger things to worry about. While Prangley proceeded to give orders to crew members arriving to the CIC, Luna was brought down to the crew deck by her parents.

They sat down in a couch in the starboard observation deck, Luna between Charles and Jennifer.

"Where are we going now?" Luna asked. Outside the window, light was distorted as they accelerated past lightspeed.

"To Liara's place," her father answered.

"On the Citadel?"

Her mother shook her head. She seemed to have calmed down a little. "No," she said. "A secret place. A safe place. Oriana, Kolyat and Vidani are there too."

Luna looked back and forth between them. "Are all your friends involved in this?"

"It would seem so," Jennifer sighed. "At least almost all of them."

There was a silent pause.

"I'm sorry I disobeyed you," Luna eventually said, looking down at her hands. The blood from the cut on the back of her hand had stiffened, closing the wound. "I didn't like killing those men."

Jennifer put her arm around her.

"Ignoring that you were not supposed to be here, you did great," she said. "Although, obviously, you could have avoided hurting your hand with a little more concentration."

Luna sighed. Her mother was a strict instructor. She demanded perfection from her students, in any situation.

"Can you please explain all this to me?" Luna asked. "Why is the Alliance trying to kill us?"

"Hopefully, it's not all of the Alliance," her father said. "But these two groups, New Cerberus and Terra Firma, seem to have gained influence in the Alliance. As you have seen, they have a lot of power. Enough to order an attack on the Normandy."

"Liara and Oriana think that they will attack the Council," Jennifer chimed in. "Prangley was investigating, but Terra Firma and New Cerberus convinced everyone that he was the traitor, and they are using the Alliance and C-Sec against him."

"And now they will think that we are traitors too, for joining him," Luna concluded.

"Your dad and I, yes," Jennifer said. "Not you. If you had just listened."

"I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

"In any case," Jennifer said. "You'll be perfectly safe at Liara's place. You WILL be staying there. I guarantee it. Even if I have to knock you unconscious before we fly off."

Luna realized that this was not the time to discuss that decision. She had other worries.

"You said New Cerberus," she began cautiously, knowing this was a touchy subject. "Were they the ones who… You know… raised you."

"Hah," Jennifer snorted. "They sure as fuck didn't raise me. But, you are right, partially at least. New Cerberus is supposedly a new organization, based on the ideology of the old Cerberus… Which is all the more reason to keep you as far away from them as possible."

Feeling slightly less confused about the mess she had put herself in, Luna agreed to go to the med bay to have her hand looked at. She convinced her parents to go and see if they could help Prangley. She was a big girl. She could see the doctor on her own, but promised that she would find them as soon as she was done in the med bay.

She entered to find Joker sitting on the edge of one of the operating tables, shirtless and with a bandage wrapped around his shoulder.

"Hey, Luna," he said, lowering himself slowly down to the floor to avoid breaking his brittle bones. "EDI told me you were here."

"Are you okay?" Luna asked.

The pilot pulled a grimace. "I didn't expect the first bullet to be surgically removed from my body to come from an Alliance rifle."

He groaned as he had to use his injured arm to support his weight for a second before his feet hit the floor.

"What did I tell you?" the salarian doctor said. "Don't use your arm, Moreau."

"And how, pray tell, am I supposed to fly this ship without using my arm?" Joker asked.

"I had imagined that you could let EDI pilot the ship for a day or two," the salarian said, speaking quickly and putting his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. "She's an excellent pilot."

"Mahhh… She's okay," Joker said, limping towards the door.

 _"I can hear you, Jeff,"_ EDI reminded him from the loudspeaker on the wall.

"Good, I'll be on the bridge in a moment."

EDI and the salarian doctor sighed simultaneously, as Joker limped past Luna and out of the med bay. The doctor shook his head and turned his attention to Luna, who was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. She suddenly realized that the wound on her hand was stinging quite badly, now that she was more relaxed.

"EDI, diagnose, please," the doctor said, gesturing for Luna to lay down on the operating table.

 _"Magnus, Luna… Human… Female… 18 years old… Strong vital signs… Slightly heightened heart rate… Biotic… Cut on the back of the hand… Immediate bleeding stopped by coagulation of the blood… Recommend further analysis and treatment…"_

"Easy being a doctor these days, huh?" the salarian said. "Hello, Miss Magnus. I didn't know you were on the ship. Would have introduced myself. I am Damlin Roda."

"Hello," Luna said, holding out her hand to allow Doctor Roda to inspect it.

Roda applied a few drops of a mysterious liquid to her wound, which burned for just a second before the stiffened blood liquified again. With a swift movement, he wiped it away, leaving him with a much clearer view of the cut on the back of Luna's hand.

"Hmmm," he said, as he started to bend all of Luna's fingers individually. "The tendons seem intact. Should be fine with just some medi-gel."

"Great," Luna sighed in relief.

She wondered why a salarian doctor would serve on an Alliance frigate, and as Doctor Roda was applying a thin layer of medi-gel to the back of her hand, she asked.

"I thought you would never ask," he chuckled. "Everyone asks. I have a doctorate in human physiology. Alien bodies are much more exciting than salarian."

"Why?" Luna asked.

"Your species are, genetically, very simple creatures. Your DNA is incredibly similar to that of other animals from Earth that you consider vastly inferior to humans. Like chimpanzees. You humans and chimpanzees evolved from a common ancestor, and you are, genetically, very closely related. Still, humans are obviously, different from chimps in very significant ways. Your DNA is actually much less sophisticated than that of many Earth-based plants."

"Gee," Luna said, wondering if she was supposed to feel insulted.

"Humans are remarkable," Doctor Roda continued excitedly. "So much coming out of such relatively simple genetic material, not to mention the vast array of different genetic configurations within your species… Again, impressive… So many variations of such a simple genetic code."

"Riiight," Luna said, jumping off the operating table. "Thanks a lot, Doctor. I should go find my parents."

"Of course," he said. "Come see me if you need another dose of medi-gel."

Luna found her parents just outside the med bay, eating breakfast. She joined them, but didn't have any food. She was still full from the meal that EDI had brought her earlier.

One level above, the crew had cleaned up the CIC, and Luna saw them carrying the bodies of their dead colleagues to the med bay.

"We will be at Liara's place in half an hour," Luna's father informed her.

Jennifer leaned across the table, pointing her finger at Luna. "And that is where this adventure ends for you, young lady!"

-X-X-X-

 **The Lair of the Shadow Broker**

Charles stepped off the Normandy and was immediately pulled into a hug from both Oriana and Liara.

"Glad you guys are with us," Oriana said, sounding genuinely relieved. "EDI warned us there were complications."

"You could say that," Charles sighed, revealing the presence of his daughter.

While Oriana and Liara greeted Luna and the rest, Charles was welcomed by both Tom Domino and Oriana's assistant Gabriel, as well as Kolyat and Princess Vidani.

"I heard you were attacked at the Citadel," Charles said to his drell friend.

Kolyat nodded. "Domino helped us get away."

Charles shook his head in disbelief. If the Coalition were willing to risk involving the drell royal family, there was no longer any doubt in his mind, that, given the chance, they would go through with their planned attack on the Council.

Ten minutes after their arrival to Liara's lair, they were all assembled in a conference room. Liara, Oriana and Prangley stood at the head of the table. They had just gone through everything they had learned about the Coalition and their plan so far.

"We have a few different options," Domino said. "Find the missiles, find the missing Admiral Dechalé, investigate other Alliance officers, find out where the Coalition is based…"

"Except none of those are really options at the moment," Jennifer pointed out. "We don't know where to start with any of those things."

"There's another option," Prangley added. "I want to go back to Kotholo, where my marines were killed. We have an idea what to look for now. I want to go there to investigate."

"I already told you," Liara said patiently. "My people have been there already. There's nothing. I will admit that we need a breakthrough on another front though."

Oriana stood up. "Liara and I have agreed that our main focus should be the missiles. We will look for them. Hopefully, when we find them, we will find the Coalition."

"Agreed," Sophia said. "We need to know more about those weapons. We don't even know exactly what kind of missiles we are talking about, or if the Coalition have them already or not."

"I can't just sit on my ass until we have the intel," Prangley declared in frustration.

"Seconded," Jennifer said loudly, and Charles was not surprised. His wife was not known for her patience.

"I'm with Mum," Luna announced.

Jennifer pushed her back into her seat. "No, you're not. You're only at this meeting because you promised you'd keep your mouth shut."

"I think it would be a good idea to have the Normandy out there in the field," Oriana said, "ready to strike when we have the intel we need."

"Good," Prangley said, clearly satisfied that he was not being forced to stay at the lair. "We don't know what we will face. I could use as many fighters as possible."

He looked around at the people around the table. Like Charles, most of them had already agreed to help him.

"I'm not a fighter," Gabriel quickly said.

Oriana smiled at her assistant. "Gabe and I will stay here. We can do more good gathering intel."

Domino chose to stay at the lair too, arguing that his duty was to protect the councilor. Vidani announced that she felt perfectly safe at the lair and wanted to help Liara and Oriana in any way she could. As expected, Kolyat would not leave her side.

"No fighters, then," Prangley said.

Luna raised her hand, but it was immediately batted down by Jennifer.

"You can have Kolyat," Vidani said.

"No," Kolyat croaked.

Vidani smiled at him. "I feel safe here, Kolyat. Dr. T'Soni, Oriana and Mr. Domino are all capable fighters. I want you to go with your friends."

"Are you sure?" Kolyat asked.

"Of course," she said, smiling at him.

Kolyat then turned to Prangley. "I guess you have one fighter then," he said.

"You have two, Uncle P," Luna shouted, before Jennifer could put her hand over her mouth.

Prangley smiled and winked at her.

"I'll take you, Luna," he laughed. "If you can convince your mother."

After the meeting, Sophia, Prangley and Joker worked together with EDI and the Normandy engineers to make sure that the airlock had not been damaged during the boarding. Luna took the opportunity to pull Charles and Jennifer into an empty room.

"We know what you are going to say, Luna," Charles said.

"The answer is no!" Jennifer made it clear.

"Really?" Luna said. "You don't want me to stay here? Because that was totally my question."

"Nice try," Jennifer said.

"Fine," Luna said, crossing her arms. "I'll just sneak off this station too."

Jennifer matched their daughter's stance. "No, you won't."

"I will. And if I find my own way away from here, you won't be able to look after me, so you might as well bring me with you on the Normandy."

"You little shit!" Jennifer growled. "Why must you do the fucking opposite of what we tell you all the time!?"

"Yeah, I wonder where that kind of behavior comes from," Luna muttered.

Jennifer looked expectantly at Charles. Clearly, she wanted him to provide a solution to the stubborn teenager in front of them.

"It's too dangerous," he tried.

"I'll be much safer with you guys," Luna argued.

Charles was fully against bringing Luna along, but he was also certain that she would find another way to get away from Liara's lair. And in that case, he'd much rather have Luna with him on the Normandy.

"Fuck!" Jennifer cursed, clearly not satisfied that Luna's strategy was working.

Charles thought about asking Liara to keep Luna locked in, like a prisoner. But both he and Jennifer knew how resourceful their daughter was. She had proven that by sneaking onto the Normandy unseen. Unless Liara could provide some type of stasis field or place Luna in cryo-sleep, Charles was running out of ideas.

"You'll do what we say? You'll not do anything stupid? You'll stay on the Normandy when we tell you to?" Jennifer said.

"Of course," Luna answered.

"Liar," Jennifer muttered.

"So I can come?"

"It seems we can't prevent you from trying to kill yourself," Jennifer sighed.

"Yes!" Luna cheered. "I promise I will be good. From now on."

"Bullshit," Jennifer said, opening the door to leave the room. "Come on, we take off in a moment."

Luna skipped provocatively past them and down the hall.

"I hate her," Jennifer said to Charles, leaning against the door frame. "It's your fault."

"I'm sure you think it is," he chuckled, "but would you care to explain how?"

She playfully kicked him in the shin. "You fucked me, didn't you? And look what came out of that!"

"She's a monster," Charles agreed, putting his arm around her waist.

Jennifer leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked down the hallway. "She's a pretty talented biotic though… The way she punched that guy… Did you see his face? That's right… You didn't… It was gone."

-X-X-X-

 **Omega**

Kurt leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms above his head. He was rarely at the office at this hour, but tonight he was working late. Living with Adina T'Loak, who very much decided her own work hours, Kurt usually stopped his work day when she did. And Adina hardly ever worked overtime. If she did, it was because she counted 'dominating the dancefloor' at Afterlife as work.

But this evening, Aria had given him a special assignment. When he was given the job, she had almost, ALMOST, sounded as if she wanted him to do it because she trusted him and valued his work. So Kurt decided that he better do his best with this particular job. Disappointing Aria rarely ended well for anyone.

Aria wanted him to figure out how to lure tourists to Omega. There were certain challenges in making Omega into a tourist destination. Particularly because Aria was adamant that what she called Omega's 'existing charms' were not changed. Unfortunately, unlike Aria, most tourists did not see corruption and high crime rates as charming features, so Kurt was working on a plan to change a section of Omega into a safer zone more appealing to tourists. He was interested to see if Aria would accept such a compromise. Even if she did, it would be an enormous challenge to clean up even a small portion of Omega.

Kurt sighed and closed down his computer. He needed to get some sleep before having to present his solution to Aria. He went downstairs to Afterlife to locate Adina. The club was filled with intoxicated guests, some dancing, some hanging in the bar. He couldn't find Adina, so he pushed his way across the dancefloor and headed for the exit.

For some time, Kurt had been looking over his shoulder, even more wary of his surroundings than he normally was when walking around on Omega. Aria had warned him that the Alliance was monitoring him, and then he had received an encrypted message from Liara T'Soni warning him of exactly the same thing: That the Alliance was watching his movements. Kurt was not sure exactly why he had ended up on the Alliance's surveillance list, but according to Liara's message, his old friend Prangley was investigating something corrupt in the Alliance and had gotten himself in serious trouble. Kurt had been tempted to investigate what was going on in the Alliance, but Liara's message had instructed him to lay low until further notice. And now, just a few hours ago, Aria had told him that another old friend was on his way to Omega. Kurt hoped that he would be able to shed some light on the situation.

Kurt was nearing his and Adina's apartment, when he was suddenly pulled backwards into a narrow alley. Kurt grabbed the arm around his neck and caught a glimpse of his attacker out of the corner of his eye. All he saw was a dark hood, obscuring the man's face.

"What are you playing at, Vega?" Kurt asked and stopped struggling against the headlock.

The grip loosened. "How did you know it was me right away?" James Vega asked.

"Well, the size of the bicep crushing my windpipe was the first clue… And Aria told me you were here. Did you really think you could come to Omega without her noticing?"

Kurt turned around to face Captain Vega, who was completely unrecognizable under his dark hood.

"This is about Prangley, isn't it?" Kurt asked.

James nodded. "It's a mess, Kurt. I feel caught between my duties as an Alliance officer and my own personal beliefs, and the beliefs of my wife."

"I was just going to say," Kurt said. "You don't really think Prangley is a traitor? I know Vera would never believe that."

"She doesn't," James assured him. "And I don't… Not really. But I have orders to bring Prangley in, quietly and peacefully of course. I just want him to explain to me and the Alliance what is going on. It is my duty."

Kurt nodded slowly, and James continued: "Something is very clearly wrong… Prangley has already convinced Charles and Jennifer to come with him, and I think Kolyat Krios and even Oriana Lawson might be involved too."

"Really? And you think I am too?" Kurt asked.

James shrugged. "If you are, you need to tell me what the fuck is going on, Kurt."

"Well, I'm not," Kurt answered truthfully. "Nobody's telling me anything, and it's pissing me off. Can I ask, if you wanted to talk to me, why are we standing in a dark alley? You could have just visited me at home."

James pulled Kurt a little further into the shadows.

"I know about the message you received from Liara," he whispered. "If that is true… If a spy is watching you, I don't want to be spotted by them."

Kurt looked up and down James. He had to admit that he had done a good job of making himself unrecognizable.

"So what do we do now?" Kurt asked. "To find out what is going on?"

"You could come with me," James suggested. "Help me."

"And how do I know you won't just bring me into the Alliance?" Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow. "Apparently, the Alliance thinks that I might be a traitor too, with spies watching me and everything…"

James pulled back his hood.

"Kurt, we've known each other for almost twenty years. You are like a brother to my wife. How about a little trust?"

Seeing James' face did help Kurt trust him a little better. Just like Kurt, he seemed to be genuinely confused about the situation they found themselves in.

"I will come with you," he said, thinking that his presence might help ensure that James and Prangley didn't do anything they would regret. "On one condition."

"Which is?"

Kurt trusted James. Quite a lot, actually. But Liara's message and the fact that all of his other friends seemed to agree that something rotten was going on within the Alliance worried him. Under these circumstances, he would not feel safe on an Alliance ship. He trusted James, but not necessarily his crew. So Kurt demanded that James left his entire Alliance crew on Omega and replaced them with Aria's people.

"You really trust Aria T'Loak more than the Alliance?" James asked. He could not believe what he was hearing.

"Right now? Yes! That's why I want Adina to come with us too. As long as a T'Loak is present, Aria's people will be more loyal than you can imagine," Kurt said, grinning at James.

"I can't just leave my crew here and fill my ship with Aria's thugs, Kurt…" James sighed.

Kurt smirked. "Of course you can."

Just an hour later, Kurt had arranged a secret meeting with Adina, James and himself in his office. He had presented his plan to Adina, who immediately agreed to come along and promised to supply a crew of experienced asari navigators, engineers, weapons experts and a pilot.

"I'm getting tired of meetings," she said, winking at James, who seemed less than excited about putting an Alliance ships in the hands of Adina T'Loak. He was a smart man and knew very well, that even though he was the captain, his new crew was loyal to Adina, not to him.

"You will have my crew transported back to the Citadel?" he asked.

Adina nodded. "First thing tomorrow."

"And Aria is okay with this?" James wondered.

"She won't care," Kurt assured him. "As long as we're not taking one of her ships."

They agreed that it would be best to take off as soon as possible. It didn't take long for the new asari crew to come to the frigate that James had been given to chase and arrest Prangley, his former executive officer. The SSV Romford was a Normandy-class ship, so Kurt was familiar with the layout. Impressively, Aria's asari crew seemed immediately at home on the advanced warship, and they were soon ready to leave.

As James discussed the course with the navigation specialists and the pilot that had been forced upon him, Kurt sidled over to Adina and put his arm around her.

"Ready for an adventure?" she asked, kissing his cheek.

"You bet," he said with a large grin.

-X-X-X-

 **The Jon Grissom Academy**

"Have a nice afternoon, all of you," Vera said, finishing her lecture on defensive biotics. "White and Chalmers, if you interrupt me so many times again tomorrow, I'm going to have to punish you."

The two girls, who had been interrupting classes with their gossiping even when Vera had been their instructor in basics, didn't seem to take her threat very seriously.

"And I will tell Jennifer about it so she can deal with you when she gets back," Vera added. This seemed to have a greater effect.

Vera had nothing against teaching the older students. She knew all of them from before they had switched to advanced level classes at the age of 18, and it was nice, for a change, to deal with students at a slightly higher level. She was awfully busy, teaching both her own and Charles' and Jennifer's classes. Kaidan helped her as much as he could, but he had his duties as head director of the Ascension Project to deal with as well.

As Vera was packing up her things, and the classroom was emptying in front of her, one of the students, Jeremy, stopped by her desk.

"Good lesson today, Mrs. Vega," he said.

"Thank you, Jeremy. Nice to see your barrier. I told you, you would get it."

"Oh, yeah," he said, smiling nervously. "Hey, can you tell me where Mr. and Mrs. Magnus are, and when they'll be back?"

"Jeremy," Vera sighed. "You know I can't. It's classified."

Jeremy leaned closer. "Are they doing something cool though?"

She winked at him. "Very cool."

"Okay," he said. "Oh, and you look very nice today, Mrs. Vega."

"Off with you now, Jeremy," Vera laughed, and Jeremy hurried after his classmates.

She left the classroom in a good mood and walked down Ascension Hall to her office. When she opened the door, she was almost hit in the face by her six-year-old, who was floating around the room, held up by Atlas Magnus' biotic field, while her other children were cheering "Flip him! Flip him! Flip him!".

"Don't flip me! It tickles!" Vincent laughed, as Atlas steered him away from her.

"Atlas, would you mind putting Vincent down?" Vera asked, gesturing for Mark, Antonio and Valentina to stop their cheers.

"Sure," Atlas said, putting Vincent safely back on the ground, but not before flipping him once to please his audience.

Vera sighed. On Elysium, where all her children went to school, there was a public school holiday, and she had decided to bring them all to work with her. She should have known that they would talk Atlas into performing biotic tricks with them. She could only imagine what they had been doing before she caught them.

"Where is Hilary?" Vera asked.

"She's having a nap with EDI," Atlas answered. "She is recharging in my room."

"Great," Vera said. "Maybe you should all have a nap before dinner, huh?"

"No way," the twins said. "Atlas is going to let us ride Eezo."

"Is he?" Vera said, giving Atlas a stern look. She was not as trusting of the Magnus family's enormous, biotic pet varren as they were.

"Just a short ride," Atlas promised. "We won't go fast."

Vera had never seen the varren go anything but fast, but agreed that they could ride him, as long as Vincent and Valentina didn't do it alone.

"Woohoo!" Vincent cheered and ran out of the office, followed by Valentina.

"Last one there is a krogan's butt," Mark laughed and pushed aside Atlas and his twin brother on his way out the door.

"Hey!" Antonio shouted and sprinted after his brother.

"Good lucking finding it without me," Atlas yelled after them, but took off after them all the same.

Vera sat down on the edge of her desk. She smiled tiredly. Atlas was a great friend to her children, but he also seemed to give them a completely uncontrollable amount of energy.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the PA system in her office beeping.

 _"Mrs. Vega, this is the security office. Your husband has just landed in the shuttle bay."_

Vera jumped to her feet. Her heart was hammering away. James was back. Not only had she missed him, but she was also very much aware that James had intended to go to Omega to talk to Kurt. She needed to know that her friend was okay.

She ran out of her office and exited Ascension Hall. But instead of heading straight for the shuttle bay, she ran towards the Alan Bean Auditorium. This time, she was determined that her children would get to say hello to their father before James could take off again.

Inside the jungle-like auditorium, she found Atlas pulling Eezo around by the fang while Valentina was sitting on the varren's back.

"Kids," she said. "Daddy's here."

All four of her children forgot all about the varren, and Valentina jumped off Eezo's back and ran toward's Vera.

"Where is he?" she wanted to know, looking around as if James would jump out from behind on of the giant ferns.

"Come," Vera said happily, leading her children towards the shuttle bay. Atlas followed them, riding majestically on Eezo.

They didn't even get to the shuttles before running into James, who came strolling down the corridor, followed by Kurt and Adina T'Loak.

Mark, Antonio, Valentina and Vincent all jumped into their father's arms, and James kneeled to hug them all at once.

"Hey kids," he laughed, as Vincent and Valentina climbed onto a shoulder each. "I missed you."

"Uncle Kurt!" Atlas shouted and jumped Kurt with almost the same enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Adina was watching the children with an amused expression on her face. She offered a friendly nod, which Vera returned before jumping into her husband's arms. She kissed him deeply, which sent all four of their children running away from them, screaming: "Eeeew!"

Vera then hugged Kurt tightly. She was relieved to see that James had managed to convince Kurt to come along without hurting him. She knew that he wouldn't, but she really did not like that her husband had been tasked with chasing down Prangley. All of them should be on the same side. She wished she had a better understanding of what had happened between Prangley and the Alliance.

She had asked Kaidan Alenko, who had been on the station when Prangley picked up Charles and Jennifer, but Prangley had refused to tell her boss anything. To keep him safe, he had said. Atlas, who had been present when Prangley explained the situation to his parents, had missed essential details. All the 12-year-old could say was that his parents had joined Prangley to 'save the galaxy' and that he had caught his mother torturing an Alliance employee. Vera already knew about the torture. Obviously, she too had been warned by Liara that she was being watched. But Vera had yet to spot anyone spying on her.

"What is going on, Kurt?" Vera asked.

"Ask your hubby," Kurt said. "He's the one who pulled _me_ into an alley."

James nodded in confirmation. "To ask you what is going on."

"So none of us know what is going on," Vera concluded.

"Isn't it exciting," Kurt joked, pulling Adina to his side. "An adventure."

"We find Prangley and ask him," James said. "If you and Kurt help me…"

"Ahem…"

"And Adina," James quickly added. "If you all help me, we can find him and find out what is going on."

Vera was getting worried. It sounded like James wanted her to come with him.

"Honey, can we talk for a minute?" she asked and pulled him to the side.

"You want to stay with the kids," he guessed.

She nodded. "Don't you think I should?"

He nodded. "Yeah, of course… Of course, you should."

James moved a strand of hair from her face and she rested her cheek in his big hand.

"Once all this is over, we really need a vacation," she sighed.

He smiled tiredly and kissed her forehead. "I know… I promised you, I'll take two months leave."

She pulled him into a tight hug.

"Don't get hurt," she whispered. "Take care of Kurt and Adina… And don't let things get heated between you and Prangley. I know how you both are."

"Baby, I am just going to bring him in for questioning."

"And when he refuses to come with you? Which he will."

James looked deep into her eyes. "We will talk. Prangley and I have known each other for a long time, right…"

"So you know that he wouldn't go against the Alliance without reason."

"Which is why I'm going to find him, so he can tell me his reason. Right now, it's hard for me to understand how anything could make him a traitor."

Vera shook her head. "He's not a traitor. Liara, Oriana, Charles and Jennifer are on his side. This must be something real, something big."

James sighed. "I'll find them."

"I hope you do," Vera said, leaning against him. "Prangley is accused of treason, and if anyone else from the Alliance finds him before you, things could go all wrong."

James lifted her head up and their eyes locked. "I _will_ find them. Everything will be okay, mi tesora!"

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

Charles was sitting on a crate in the shuttle bay, cleaning a pistol that he had been given by one of the crewmembers. If they were going to fight the Coalition, he would prefer to be armed.

Past Prangley's shuttle, on the other side of the room, a few crewmembers were having a pull-up contest in the primitive gym that James Vega had installed almost as soon as Shepard had been given command of the Normandy after his return to the Alliance. Charles was not particularly surprised to see that the gym had survived the 20 years since the Reaper War. The Normandy had only had two captains since Shepard's death, Jason Prangley and James Vega, the two biggest gym rats that Charles had ever met.

Luna, who was sitting next to him on the crate, was stealing glances at the Alliance crew members.

"Don't tell your mother I said this, but you are so like Vera when she was your age," Charles chuckled.

His daughter quickly looked down, pretending to rub at a stain on her Ascension Project uniform.

"She liked guys with big muscles too," he whispered.

"Dad!" Luna hissed. "Not so loud. Besides, it's hardly something unique to Vera and me. I bet most women like men who work out. Even Mum."

"Well," Charles laughed, flexing his biceps, "obviously."

"Daaad…"

While Luna was trying not to be embarrassed, Jennifer entered the shuttle bay with Kolyat and a young woman with short blonde hair. She was dressed like the rest of the crewmembers, but looked very young. She could not have been part of the crew for long. As he was sitting there next to his daughter, Charles realized that this young woman was probably around Luna's age, or at least not more than one or two years older. Strangely, it made him feel a bit more relaxed about his daughter being on a warship. She was not the only one. Young people always seemed to find themselves on the frontlines in any conflict. He had been there himself when the reapers attacked.

"How are you doing, Kolyat?" Charles asked.

"I am fine, thank you, Charles," the drell answered.

"Don't you miss the princess, Kol?" Luna asked.

Kolyat nodded slowly. "It is tempting," he said, "to allow myself to disappear into my memories of her."

Kolyat was of course referring to the drell's ability to recall any memory vividly and in perfect detail.

"I should focus on the presence though," Kolyat added. "A perfect memory is both a blessing and a curse. Unfortunately, some drell lose the ability to tell the difference between life and memories. They go insane. Others have been killed, simply because they fail to pay attention and recognize threats in the presence, because they dwell too much on the past."

Charles nodded. It was sometimes easy to feel jealous of the other races. The drell memory, the asari lifespan, krogan resilience. It all sounded great. But just like the human race, they all had their weaknesses and limitations.

Jennifer sat down next to Charles and leaned her head on his shoulder. Discretely, she placed her hand on his thigh.

"Would you like me to clean that for you, sir?" the young woman with the short, blonde hair asked Charles, nodding towards the pistol in his hand.

"That won't be necessary… Corporal?" Charles said, leaning forward to get a look at the rank insignia on her shoulder.

"Oh, excuse my manners, I'm Corporal Raven Crow."

"Raven Crow?" Charles repeated and shook her hand. "Hmm… Nice to meet you, Raven. I'm Guppy… Guppy McTrout."

Jennifer snorted while Luna immediately slapped his arm.

"Daaad!" she sighed. "You're so lame."

She then turned to Corporal Crow. "I'm sorry, my dad's jokes are the worst. I'm Luna. My dad's name is Charles… Not Guppy…"

Raven looked at Charles, then at Luna, briefly to Jennifer and then back at Charles. She seemed amused. "I know, my name is made up of two birds… My parents have a hilarious sense of humor. You can just call me Raven," she said. "I have been helping your wife and Mr. Krios in the armory."

"She has been very helpful," Jennifer confirmed, giving Charles' thigh a little squeeze.

"Will you be needing a bigger weapon, Mr. Magnus?" Raven asked. "I can find an assault rifle or a shotgun if you'd like."

"Please, just call me Charles. And no thank you. The pistol is plenty. I doubt I will use it much."

Raven nodded. "Your wife said something similar."

"I probably won't bring mine anywhere, but it's nice to know where to find a gun if I need it," Jennifer said.

"I'd like a gun," Luna said.

Jennifer sighed. "Fuck me, here we go!"

"I'm here, and if things go south, wouldn't you like me to be armed?" Luna asked.

Charles could see her point. Luna had been trained how to use a pistol by Kaidan Alenko as part of her class curriculum, and if there was a battle, he would feel safer knowing that his daughter had a gun as well as her biotics at her disposal.

"Okay," he said. "You can have a pistol."

Jennifer nodded in agreement, and Luna jumped to her feet, smiling brightly. "Raven, will you take me to the armory?"

The corporal nodded.

"Perhaps we should consider hiring Raven as a babysitter while we're here," Jennifer laughed.

"I do not need a babysitter!" Luna growled angrily as she and Raven entered the elevator.

Charles and Jennifer sat on their crate watching the young men trying to figure out what they should compete in after their pull-up contest. Kolyat stood next to them, fidgeting with the hilt of his sword.

"Your daughter reminds me of you," Kolyat noted in his raspy voice.

"Which one of us?" Jennifer asked.

"Both. And Kurt, Prangley, Vera and Sophia too… She reminds me of my first memories with you."

"Hah," Charles laughed. "I think she just reminds you of a human teenager."

"That might be it," Kolyat said. "The uniform is very familiar too."

Charles had been wondering when it would be time for Kolyat and Vidani to have children of their own, but he knew it was a bit of a sore topic. There was an enormous amount of pressure from the drell people on them to continue the royal bloodline, but Vidani and Kolyat wanted to wait until they had evacuated the drell to a new home planet.

"What does Raven do here exactly?" Charles asked Kolyat and Jennifer.

"I'm not sure," Jennifer said. "She just offered to help us. She doesn't strike me as a fighter though."

 _"She is not,"_ EDI's voice confirmed from a speaker in the ceiling above them. _'Raven is my assistant."_

"You have an assistant now?" Jennifer asked with some skepticism.

 _"Yes."_

"Why?"

 _"Because I wanted one, so I asked Prangley if I could hire one."_

Charles was curious. EDI was a super advanced AI. It was hard to see how she would benefit from having a human assistant. If she had been lacking a physical body, maybe. But as it happened, EDI had several bodies under her control: Her primary body, which was most likely on the bridge with Joker, and her secondary maternal body, which was at the Jon Grissom Academy with Hilary. And in a sense, Charles figured, it wouldn't be completely wrong to consider the Normandy itself as one of EDI's bodies.

"What does she do for you?" Jennifer asked, apparently wondering about the same things as him. "When she's not picking out pistols for my daughter…"

 _"Raven is a big help to me. I often have to communicate with people who distrust synthetic lifeforms. Sending Raven to things like procurement meetings can help make things move along smoother,"_ EDI explained.

"But your body was built by Cerberus to disguise you as a human, Dr. Eva," Jennifer said.

 _"Yes,"_ EDI agreed. _"And It would not take me long to figure out how to once again disguise my body as a human. However, my body is not always available. I often play an important role in missions, and that's another reason for me to have Raven here."_

EDI then told them a little bit more about her assistant. Apparently, Raven had been born just a few days before the reapers attacked Earth, supporting Charles' estimation of her age. EDI admitted that she had headhunted Raven Crow for the job by 'not technically legal' means.

 _"I hacked into the databases of every single university on Earth to identify suitable candidates. I found Raven at a university in Johannesburg. She's writing a thesis about developing new relations between humans and AIs."_

"Her working for you is pretty interesting," Kolyat said. "Organics have been using technology to work for them for so long, but I've never heard of one being hired by an artificial intelligence."

 _"It has happened,"_ EDI assured them. _"The Geth used to trick organics into doing jobs for them, and they even paid out salaries. The real difference is that Raven knows that her boss is an AI… Oh, and there's dinner on the crew deck."_

"Thanks, EDI," Jennifer said, grabbing Charles' hand. "I'm starving!"

-X-X-X-

 **The SSV Romford**

Leaving James' Alliance crew on Omega and putting the Romford in the hands of Aria's people had been Kurt's idea. Still, he had to admit that it was a strange experience, being on an Alliance ship crewed by asari with no humans onboard except himself and James.

The ship's captain was sitting across from him, sulking. Kurt knew why. James was still the captain of his own ship. He was still the one with all the bars on his shoulders, and he still slept in the luxury cabin on the top deck, but the new crew was loyal to Adina T'Loak, not to him. Kurt knew it, Adina knew it, and James very clearly knew it.

For a T'Loak, Adina was being gracious about the entire situation. Her older sister would have had no problem throwing James out of his cabin, but Adina was happy to go on pretending that James was actually in power. She and Kurt had claimed the office and bedroom on the crew deck that normally belonged to the ship's executive officer.

Kurt was sitting with Adina in his lap, sipping on a beer and telling the sulking James about Aria's plans for Omega's future. Adina was reading something on her datapad, but was interrupted by one of the asari crew members.

"Miss T'Loak, we need supplies. It is not urgent, but I thought we might as well resupply while we're waiting for intel on the Normandy. Do I have permission to dock at the nearest Council Supply Station?"

"Why don't you ask our captain?" Adina replied lazily without even looking up from her datapad.

The asari navigator turned to James. "Can we dock for an hour or two, Captain Vega?"

James nodded quietly, clearly miffed that Adina had been asked first.

Kurt smiled across the table to defuse the tension as the navigator left the room.

"Things going well on Elysium?" he asked.

James stayed quiet, but nodded.

"And I hear Vera is pregnant again… A second pair of twins…"

"WHAT!?" James shouted, jumping to his feet. Then he noticed how Kurt was chuckling and the smirk on Adina's lips.

"It speaks," Adina noted and returned her full attention to the datapad.

"Relax, mate," Kurt laughed. "Just trying to get you to stop being a Sooky La La."

James sat back down and sighed deeply. "I need to get home to my wife," he muttered.

Kurt nodded. He was sure Vera would agree with that statement.

Later, while the ship was docked in order to resupply, Kurt found Adina in the shuttle bay. The asari crew were levitating boxes with ammunition, food supplies and water around the room with their biotics. Adina was standing in the middle of the room with a golf club. As Kurt approached her, Adina swung the club and hit a golf ball with a nice 'ping!'. The little white ball was launched across the shuttle bay and would have hit the bulkhead, if Adina hadn't caught it in a singularity field. She then brought the ball back and placed it on the floor in front of her, ready to swing at it again.

"What a silly game," she said, as Kurt joined her on the floor. "Swinging at a ball with a stick…"

"Why are you playing then?" Kurt chuckled.

Adina tossed the club, which was quickly picked up and put away by one of the asari assistants. She then wrapped her arms around Kurt's neck.

"Because I'm bored," she whispered, biting his earlobe softly.

"Hmmm…" Kurt hummed, placing his hand on the small of her back. "Want to play a video game?"

"No," she answered, leaving a trail of small kisses from his ear, along his jaw to his mouth.

"Wanna watch a vid?" Kurt tried, as Adina licked his chin.

"No," Adina said, biting his bottom lip gently, as she pushed her warm body against his.

"I know what you want."

"Yeah," Adina moaned, grabbed his hand and moved it from her back down to her ass.

"You want a snack!" Kurt chuckled, giving her butt a little squeeze.

"I want your cock," Adina whispered against his lips.

Kurt, who had of course sensed where this conversation had been going, nodded. "Your wish is my command," he said and swept her into his arms.

Adina giggled as he carried her towards the elevator. Kurt spent the short elevator ride up to the crew deck with his lips firmly locked against Adina's. Once the elevator doors opened, he carried Adina out, but almost ran straight into James.

"Vega," Kurt said politely.

James looked at Kurt and the giggling asari in his arms. Kurt smiled and shrugged, and James' face lit up in a knowing smirk.

"Don't take too long," James told them. "We have a possible location on the Normandy!"

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

Corporal Raven Crow entered the med bay, where Charles and Jennifer were watching Luna having her hand examined by Doctor Damlin Roda.

"Your hand is fully functional, Miss Magnus," the salarian doctor confirmed, having put Luna through a few tests. "Yes, Corporal, how can I help?"

"I've brought combat uniforms for Mr. and Mrs. Magnus," Raven said, dropping two neatly folded Alliance uniforms on the operating table next to the one Luna was on.

"Thanks," Charles said.

Raven turned to Luna. "Now that your injury has healed, will you be needing a uniform as well?"

"I will just use this one," Luna said, pulling on the fabric of her red Ascension Project uniform. Except for the color, it was essentially identical to the alliance uniforms anyway.

"Won't it be strange," Jennifer said, "wearing Alliance uniforms when they are trying to arrest or kill us?"

"A bit," Charles admitted.

Raven looked down at the two blue uniforms she had just brought into the med bay.

"I'm afraid we don't have any other colors," she said.

Charles picked up his uniform. "It's not going to be a problem," he assured the young corporal.

There was a reason that Luna was now having her hand checked by the doctor, and Charles and Jennifer were given combat uniforms. Just a few hours earlier, Liara had sent them coordinates to a planet that she wanted them to take a closer look at. According to Liara, the planet, Kittel, was where Admiral Dechalé's trail had finally gone cold.

"Who's this admiral anyway?" Jennifer asked, picking up the other uniform, holding it up in front of her body to figure out if it would fit. "I thought we had decided to go after those missiles."

"Doctor T'Soni and Councilor Lawson have not found the weapons yet," Raven informed them.

"Prangley knows Dechalé and he's desperate for a breakthrough," Charles said. He was not at all surprised that Prangley had jumped at this opportunity to gain some insight into the level of corruption in the Alliance.

With Luna cleared for action by Doctor Roda, Charles and Jennifer quickly changed into their uniforms before joining Prangley, Sophia, Kolyat and EDI in the shuttle bay.

"We'll be there in 300 seconds," EDI informed them, as Charles and Luna holstered their pistols. Jennifer had chosen not to bring hers.

"We have no idea what will meet us down there, so I want everyone on their toes," Prangley said. "I know it's been a long time since we last fought together, and some of us are new…"

A few eyes, including Charles', landed on Luna.

"…But I want you to know that I trust you all, and I am happy that you have trusted me enough to be here by my side today…"

"Geez, Prangley… You sound like we might not survive this…" Jennifer said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Charles could tell that she was uncharacteristically nervous. So was he. He wasn't sure if it was because he had been away from the military for so many years, or because he was bringing his teenage daughter along for the ride.

EDI piloted the shuttle safely down to Kittel's surface, and Prangley jumped out, followed by Charles and the rest of the team. Charles breathed in the air. It had a sweet, flowery fragrance to it. The atmosphere was breathable but the smell was completely foreign to him. He smiled. This was like an adventure. Like in the good old days. Going to places he had never been before. He realized how much he had missed the excitement. Looking over at his wife, he could tell that she was thinking something similar.

"That building down there," EDI said, pointing into a deep valley. "We should investigate."

Charles had to squint to spot a tiny grey spot in the middle of the green rainforest that filled the valley.

"It's beautiful," Luna sighed, looking out over the lush valley.

"Can you scan the building for signs of life, EDI?" Prangley asked.

EDI focused on the building in silence for a few moments.

"Nothing," she said. "No apparent traps either."

Carefully, Prangley led the team down into the valley. Charles noted how Luna was staying close to him, and he smiled to himself. His daughter was confident, stubborn and eager to prove herself, but obviously nervous.

"Stay alert," Sophia whispered.

Prangley chose to send Charles, Jennifer and Luna along the western perimeter.

"Make a large circle around that building," he said. "Keep your distance, hold your fire, and don't get seen or heard. I will take Sophia, Kolyat and EDI the other way around. We'll rendezvous on the far side of the building."

"Yes, sir," Luna said determinedly.

" _Yes, sir,_ " Jennifer copied, imitating Luna's voice. "If I hadn't shit you out myself, I would have sworn you were not my daughter."

Charles shook his head and pulled his wife and daughter off into the thick rainforest. They began sneaking through the undergrowth, always keeping an eye on the grey building.

"This is great," Luna said excitedly.

"Until some snake jumps out and bites you," Charles whispered back.

"Snakes don't jump, dad."

"Fair point," Charles conceded.

Jennifer sighed loudly. "Never mind the snakes… Look out for the Coalition."

But they didn't see any movement at all until they met with Prangley and the others.

"Move in," Prangley ordered, "slowly."

They fanned out and approached the grey building. A few plants were growing up the sides of the building, making it look abandoned.

"My scans are still showing no signs of life," EDI said, stopping in front of the door.

"This is where Admiral Dechalé's trail goes cold," Prangley sighed. "He's here, or at least he has been."

Hacking the door open was a relatively easy task for EDI and Sophia, and they all stormed into the small grey building, only to rush back out, coughing and gagging.

"What is that fucking smell?" Luna coughed, leaning against a tree, looking like she was going to be sick.

Charles and Jennifer looked at each other. They both knew the smell. It was the smell of a dead body. EDI, who had switched off her olfactory sensors, was the only one who had remained inside the building.

"I've activated the ventilation system, Commander," she said. "Give it a few minutes."

Charles mentally prepared himself to reenter the building, which they all did after letting the building vent out for minute. The stench was still close to unbearable.

"Ew!" Luna said, holding her nose, as she followed him back into the building.

"There's a body," EDI said. "I'm afraid it's Admiral Dechalé."

"Damn it!" Prangley cursed, kicking an office chair across the room.

Charles took Luna's hand and approached the body of Dechalé. The admiral had been tied to a chair and was sitting in the middle of the room. Considering the exit wound at the back of his head, it seemed obvious that the admiral had been executed – shot in the head.

"He has been dead for some time," Kolyat concluded.

"No shit, Kol," Jennifer said, attempting to waft the offensive smell away from her nostrils.

Sophia pointed down to the admiral's thighs. His officer's uniform had been painted by dark, clotted blood. It didn't appear to have come from his head. "Look at his legs."

"He was shot," Kolyat said, bowing down to inspect the wounds. "Once in each leg."

"Torture?" Charles asked.

"But I thought he was on their side? He was the one who tried to prevent me from investigating this whole mess to begin with!" Prangley said.

"It looks like they were maybe interrogating him," Jennifer said. "Do you think he told them whatever they wanted to know? I mean, they killed him…"

"He didn't," EDI called. "Come and see this!"

Charles and the others hurried over to the AI who was standing in front of a security console.

"Surveillance video?" Prangley asked. "Good work EDI."

EDI started the video, and on the screen appeared an image of the very room they were standing in. It was empty.

"This footage is only a few days old," EDI informed, as, on the screen, the door opened, and Dechalé was escorted into the building by soldiers in black armor.

"Those uniforms… These are definitely the same as the fuckers who killed my men on Kotholo!" Prangley raged.

Meanwhile, on the screen, Dechalé had been tied to the chair.

 _"Where are we?"_ the admiral asked, sounding scared.

 _"Your grave… unless you give us those launch codes, Admiral!"_ one of the men in black armor said, taking out his pistol.

The admiral looked around, as if he was expecting someone to come and save him. Charles could tell how scared he was. It was unpleasant watching an admiral of the Alliance Navy panicking.

 _"Now, Admiral. You are going to give me the missile launch codes! Do I need to remind you that we know where your family lives?"_

 _"Leave my family out of this, you bastards! I grounded the Normandy for you! You said you would leave my family alone!"_

Charles could see the pieces of the puzzle coming together in Prangley's head. The Coalition had threatened to harm Dechalé's family unless he cooperated.

 _"You lost control! The Normandy has gone rogue! The launch codes, or else…"_ the man in black threatened.

Admiral Dechalé bent forward in the chair. _"I can't…"_ he sighed, defeatedly.

Immediately, the man in black raised his pistol and shot the admiral in the left thigh. Even through the speakers, his scream was terrifying. Watching the surveillance video, knowing how it would all end for Dechalé, was not pleasant at all. Charles looked over his shoulder, back at the admiral's body. He knew that the video would get worse and that he was about to watch Dechalé get executed on the screen.

 _"You son of a bitch!"_ Dechalé cried out, fighting against his restraints. Tears were pouring down his face.

 _"Imagine this happening to your family, Admiral! GIVE ME THE LAUNCH CODES!" the man in black shouted._

When the admiral remained quiet apart from his panting, the man shot his other leg.

 _"I'm going to enjoy doing this to your wife, Admiral. You might think you are being a hero, but we will get those launch codes, with or without your help… All you're doing is cause your family pain."_

The admiral straightened up in the chair, clearly in strong pain from his legs, which were bleeding profusely. Bravely, he looked up the man who had now shot him twice.

 _"Kill me then,"_ he spat. _"Do it!"_

The man visibly breathed a deep sigh, shrugged and shot Dechalé in the head.

 _"What the fuck!?"_ one of the other black-clad soldiers said. _"How's he supposed to give us the codes with his brains all over the wall?"_

The interrogator holstered his gun. _"He was never never going to tell us,"_ he said, calmly for a recent murderer. _"Send a team to Earth and kill his family… And another team to kidnap Admiral Coats' family. It seems we need a new admiral."_

EDI stopped the video.

"They just leave after that," she said.

Charles and the others shared sad looks. The video they had watched had somehow made this execution scene even more unpleasant.

"He was blackmailed," Sophia summed up.

"And they're going to try the same with Admiral Coats…" Prangley said.

Coats was one of the more prominent admirals. Coats had been on the ground in London during the last battle of the reaper war. He was, perhaps, the most influential of the admirals. If the Coalition gained control of Admiral Coats, it would give them close to total control of the Alliance.

"We can't let that happen!" Luna said. "And what about Dechalé's family? They're going to kill them!"

"We won't," Prangley assured her.

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

Prangley waited for everyone to gather in the conference room. Luna and Jennifer were the last to enter.

"Have we established a connection to Liara's base, EDI?"

On the enormous screen, an image of Liara appeared next to Oriana and Tom Domino. In the background, Prangley could see Oriana's assistant Gabriel and Princess Vidani listening too.

"EDI says that the admiral was not acting as he did voluntarily," Liara said.

"You could say that," Prangley sighed.

"I have more intel on those missiles," EDI announced. "The Coalition recovered them from an old Cerberus base. Luckily, the Alliance altered the launch codes for Cerberus' entire missile program after the war, which is why they needed Admiral Dechalé to actually use them."

"What type of missile? Do we know?" Sophia asked.

"I'm afraid not," EDI said. "I only found mention of where they got the missiles from. It seems they were rather careful to avoid specifying the type."

 _"Anything found in a Cerberus base has trouble written all over it,"_ Oriana sighed.

Prangley tapped his chin. "Are we closer to stopping the Coalition after this?" he asked no one in particular. It was Liara who answered.

 _"Maybe not. But we now know how the Coalition is influencing the Alliance. I think we can safely assume that they are applying similar tactics to gain control of C-Sec."_

 _"And we know that they are looking for launch codes,"_ Oriana added. _"And we know their next move. They are going after Admiral Coats."_

Prangley nodded in agreement. "We have to stop them! Coats is an honorable man, but so was Dechalé."

"Don't forget the Dechalé Family!" Luna said.

 _"Of course,"_ Liara said. _"I'm sending Oriana to save the admiral's family."_

Tom Domino shook his head. _"Absolutely not! Look, I'm all for saving Dechalé's family, but you are risking a councilor's life here, Doctor T'Soni."_

 _"I know,"_ Liara said, _"which is why you are going with her. Gabriel, Vidani and I will stay here."_

On the screen, Prangley could tell that Tom was still not happy about Oriana leaving the safety of Liara's station. But he seemed satisfied at least, that she was not going alone.

"What about Coats?" Charles asked.

"Admiral Coats lives on the Citadel," EDI informed.

"And we are pretty much all wanted by the Alliance and C-Sec. We still have no clue how much control the Coalition has…" Prangley said.

 _"I suggest stealth,"_ Oriana said.

Prangley looked around the conference room and found the most obvious candidate for the job.

"Up for it, Kolyat?"

The drell nodded.

"I'll go with Kolyat," Sophia announced. "Someone from the Alliance should be there."

Prangley was just about to refuse, but he knew that his wife well enough to understand that she had already made her mind up. Besides, she had a good point. Coats was an Alliance man through and through, and if they were to gain his trust, an Alliance officer like Sophia was a good choice for the job.

Sophia sent him a knowing look, indicating that she knew exactly what he was thinking. Silently, she communicated that she was fully aware that he didn't like what she was doing.

"My engineering staff is more than capable of keeping the Normandy running in my absence," Sophia said.

 _"Sounds like a plan,"_ Liara summed up. _"Oriana and Tom will go to Earth for Dechalé's family. Kolyat and Sophia are going after Coats."_

Prangley sighed. "Let's hope we're not too late to save either of them."

"And what are the rest of us doing in the meantime?" Jennifer asked. As always, she was not happy to sit on her hands while others were enjoying all the action.

 _"I thought you could take a look at that old Cerberus base,"_ Liara suggested. _"The Coalition found those mysterious missiles there. Perhaps you can learn more about what we're up against."_

Prangley nodded. This was an excellent idea as far as he was concerned. Like Jennifer, his patience had limits, and he knew that having a job to do would make it much easier for him to handle the fact that Sophia was going on a dangerous mission on the Citadel. Even the boring task of going through an old, empty Cerberus base would be a welcome distraction while Sophia was away.

Everyone said goodbye to each other before EDI cut the connection to Liara's station.

Before they could do anything else, they needed to find a ship that could take Sophia and Kolyat to the Citadel. Obviously, Prangley couldn't just dock with the Normandy and drop them off.

As the conference room emptied, Sophia came over to him and snuggled into his side. He put his arm around her.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked cutely.

"Like you wouldn't believe," he whispered back, squeezing her a bit more firmly than he normally would have.

She looked up at him. "Maybe the captain should take me up to his cabin and discipline me then," she suggested.

Prangley sighed. "EDI, how long will it take to find a ship for my wife and Kolyat?"

 _"A few hours"_ EDI, whose body had now left the conference room, said using the speakers.

"Plenty of time," Sophia purred, licking her lips.

Prangley nodded in agreement and threw her over his shoulder.

Sophia gave a delighted squeal and giggled as he started carrying her towards the elevator.

"I'm still mad though," he said, slapping her ass with his free hand.

-X-X-X-

 **Abandoned Cerberus Base Delta Kilo**

Kurt did not even know which planet they were on. In fact, he wasn't even sure it was technically a planet. It might as well have been a moon. All he knew was that they had tracked the Normandy to this abandoned old Cerberus base.

He, James and Adina had been searching the base for hours, looking for signs that the Normandy had been there. But the base seemed to have been completely emptied by Cerberus – or by someone else, Kurt did not know. He had begun to think that Prangley had already left, realizing how utterly boring the empty base was. That was until he suddenly found himself between two groups of people he liked very much.

Kurt had been walking slightly in front of James and Adina down a long corridor, when Prangley suddenly appeared at the other end of the corridor. Prangley had frozen, and from behind him appeared EDI, Jennifer, Charles and… Luna.

In a split-second, it all escalated when everyone raised their weapons. Feeling very confused, Kurt had done the same. But he now felt like he was a participant in a strange Mexican standoff. He wasn't sure who to point his gun at. He had friends both to the left and the right of him. He chose to lower his gun, but everyone else were still aiming at each other.

"Hi," James said awkwardly. He and Prangley were aiming directly at each other.

"Hello, James," Prangley replied just as awkwardly.

Kurt held up his hands and created a biotic barrier between the two ends of the corridor. They would still be able to see and communicate through the blue energi field.

"I'm not lowering this until everyone has lowered their guns," he said.

Slowly, his friends at both ends of the corridor put away their weapons. The last two were Prangley and James.

"Hi, Uncle Kurt," Luna called out.

"Hey there, sweetheart," Kurt replied, allowing the biotic barrier to fade away.

"How did you get dragged into this?" Luna asked.

"Oh, you know me… Can't stay away from a party. And you?"

"I snuck onto the Normandy," Luna said proudly and was silenced by Jennifer's glare.

James took a few steps forward, but Prangley held out his hand, urging him to stop. James complied.

"Let's talk like adults," he said, to which Kurt nodded, satisfied that he seemed to have diffused the tension a bit. "Explain to me what is going on!"

"I'm sorry, James," Prangley called back. "I assure you, I am not an enemy of the Alliance, but I can't trust anyone right now. I know that they have sent you out to catch me."

"Why did you steal the Normandy?" James asked.

"James, you can't trust what anyone in the Alliance tells you right now. The Alliance has been compromised!"

James paced back and forth without going closer to Prangley.

"Just tell me then! Compromised how?"

"Sorry, James… I want to trust you, but you were sent here specifically to catch me," Prangley said.

James was just about to speak again, but Prangley, EDI, Charles, Jennifer and Luna were quickly backing away, until they disappeared. A few moments later, they heard a shuttle take off.

"They were probably nervous that you had backup coming in," Adina said. "That was so awkward by the way."

Kurt nodded.

"They really don't trust me at all," James sighed.

Kurt clapped him on the back. "Chin up, old boy. We did learn something."

"What?" James asked.

"Well, Prangley seems to be under the impression that the Alliance has been compromised," Kurt said.

"Yeah, but by who?"

"Seeing as we just caught him snooping through a Cerberus base…" Kurt began, raising an eyebrow expectantly, allowing James to finish his train of thought.

"Cerberus? Cerberus is back and compromising the Alliance?"

"Bingo," Kurt said, giving James two thumbs up, "or at least Prangley seems to think that they are? Maybe… I'm not Sherlock Holmes, mate!"

"So how do we find out if he's right?" Prangley asked.

Kurt had a feeling he was going to regret saying what he was about to say. Nevertheless, he said it.

"Use me as bait," he said. "Call in the Alliance and tell them that you've arrested me trying to help Prangley. If Prangley is wrong about the Alliance, they'll just send me to an Alliance prison somewhere…"

"And if Prangley is right?" Adina asked.

"Maybe we will find out who we can really trust. Perhaps I will end up at another Cerberus base," Kurt said. "You could track me. Who knows what we could learn."

"That sounds extremely risky," James said.

"Oh, it's definitely a shitty plan," Kurt agreed. "But we have to get to the bottom of this before anyone gets hurt."

"I don't know," Adina said. "It sounds too dangerous."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Kurt?" Prangley asked.

Kurt was tempted to back out. His plan was definitely unorthodox and risky, but he wasn't sure how else to figure out what was going on. Clearly, Prangley was not willing to tell them anything. They had to figure it out somehow. And he was confident that James and Adina would be able to save him if anything went wrong.

"Let's hurry back to the ship so you can put a tracer on me and call the Alliance," he said, quite confidently.

-X-X-X-

 **Monaco, Earth**

It had been a while since Oriana had been back on Earth. Actually, she felt a bit ashamed that she didn't visit Earth more often. As the human councilor, she should do more to remain strongly connected to the home planet of their race.

"This is a nice area," Tom, who was walking next to her, noted.

Oriana nodded in agreement. She and Tom were walking hand in hand along a road in the hills of Monaco. On their right-hand side, they were passing one enormous mansion after the other, and to the left they had a beautiful view of the Monte Carlo district and the Mediterranean Sea. The sun was slowly setting, coloring the ocean a beautiful orange, and the light seemed to bounce and reflect off the enormous yachts in the harbor.

"The Dechalé Mansion is the next one here," Oriana said.

To her relief, there was nothing to immediately suggest that the Coalition had been there already.

"They're probably having dinner right about now," Tom said, pointing to the windows of the mansion. The lights were on.

"Perhaps," Oriana replied, "but let's stay vigilant."

Tom nodded and they moved closer to the house.

"How many people are we expecting in there?" Tom asked as they started walking up a tiled path to the front door of the mansion.

"Three," Oriana reminded him. "The wife and two daughters."

They stopped in front of the front door, and Oriana tried to open it. It was an enormous old school-style wooden door. It looked very heavy.

"Locked," she concluded, as the door wasn't budging at all.

"Kick or knock?" Tom asked.

Oriana smiled. "Let's try knocking first."

After knocking twice, a butler came to the front door.

"Bonsoir, Madame et Monsieur," he said. "How can I help you this evening?"

At her side, Tom relaxed a little. Underneath his leather jacket, she knew his pistol was holstered below his left arm, loaded and ready for action. Oriana had not brought a weapon, but she had been mentally prepared to use her biotics.

"Bonsoir," Oriana replied with a flawless accent.

The butler gave her a strange look. "Councilor Lawson?"

Oriana had known this would happen. She, the human councilor, had chosen to just leave the Citadel for no apparent reason. Of course she would make the news everywhere.

"This is Special Tactics and Reconnaissance agent Domino," Oriana said, introducing Tom, who showed the butler his holographic spectre badge. "Can we come in?"

The butler just nodded and stepped to the side. He quickly closed the heavy-looking wooden door behind them, looking both confused and worried about their presence.

"You disappeared just like the admiral, Councilor," the butler said.

Oriana nodded back. "That's why we are here. Is Mrs. Dechalé home?"

"Yes," the butler said.

"And her daughters?"

"Both studying in their rooms, I believe," the butler told her.

Oriana asked him to take her to Mrs. Dechalé and to then go and fetch the two daughters of the family.

As they walked through the big mansion, the butler gave them a warning.

"The disappearance of the admiral has been hard on my mistress, Councilor Lawson," he said. "And we have tried to distract the girls with schoolwork."

Oriana and Tom followed the butler into a lounge area. On one of the couches, Mrs. Dechalé was sitting in a deep red dressing gown. She was reading galactic news from a datapad, no doubt looking for mentions of her husband's name. On the table in front of her were several other datapads, quite a few of them were switched on and displayed images of Admiral Dechalé. Oriana stepped close enough to read a few of the headlines. A few even mentioned her name.

 _Alliance Navy loses senior admiral_

 _Was Deschalé kidnapped? – And why did his family not pay the ransom?_

 _Runaway Admiral sighted on Omega_

 _Mysterious body found on Citadel docks – Identity still unkown._

 _Councilor Lawson disappeared – C-Sec investigates possible Dechalé-connection_

"Councilor?" Mrs. Dechalé gasped, looking up at Oriana.

The admiral's wife's eyes were red, and it didn't look like she had been getting enough sleep. Oriana felt sorry for her. She couldn't even imagine how she would have looked if Tom had gone missing all of a sudden.

Oriana simply nodded at Mrs. Dechalé, who slowly rose from the couch, staring from Oriana to Tom and back to Oriana.

"My husband?" she asked.

Oriana found the courage to at least look the older woman in the eyes. The look in Oriana's eyes was all it took, and Mrs. Dechalé collapsed back onto the coach.

"Je suis desolé," Oriana whispered.

In that moment, the butler returned with the admiral's two teenage daughters. The girls saw their mother crying and immediately ran to join her on the couch.

Oriana could feel a tear rolling down her cheek, and was relieved when Tom put a strong arm around her waste. She leaned against him, watching Dechalé's devastated family.

"We have to get them out of here," Tom whispered to her. "The Coalition could be here anytime."

Oriana nodded.

"What happened to our father?" the youngest daughter asked, looking up at Oriana and Tom.

Oriana was grateful when Tom provided the answer. "I'm afraid the admiral was murdered."

The three Dechalé women and the butler gasped.

"W-who?" Mrs. Dechalé asked. "Who killed him?"

"We are not sure," Oriana replied. It was not strictly true, but they had agreed not to tell the admiral's family more than they needed to know. No details about the investigation or the fact that Dechalé was tortured before his death.

Tom pulled the butler to the side and asked him to gather up the most important belongings of Mrs. Dechalé and her daughters.

"We are leaving Monaco," he said. "Tonight."

The butler nodded and immediately left the room to pack.

Less than an hour later, Oriana and Tom had brought Mrs. Dechalé, her daughters and their butler back to their shuttle.

"Are you taking us to an Alliance safehouse?" Mrs. Dechalé asked.

Oriana, who had already explained that they were evacuating them for their own safety, shook her head.

"Not an Alliance safehouse, no," she said.

As soon as everyone was safely strapped in, Tom started the shuttle and took off.

"Where then?" the oldest daughter asked.

"Scandinavia," Oriana said. "You'll be safe there until this all blows over."

"What blows over?"

Oriana sighed. "Sorry," she said. "I cannot tell you more at this time."

After an awkward ride, in which the silence was only occasionally interrupted by the soft sobs from the passenger seats, they landed in a quiet suburban neighborhood. It was dark outside, and the rain and biting cold winds were a sharp contrast to the warm evening they had left in Monaco.

As they stepped out of the shuttle, the butler immediately apologized to the Dechalé women for not packing their warm clothes.

"What is this place?" the youngest daughter asked.

"The North," Oriana replied, leading the group on towards their destination.

It was only a short walk to the house, and Oriana knocked firmly. Almost immediately, an elderly man opened the door. Behind him, his wife was looking over his shoulder.

"Good to see you, Councilor," the woman said, pushing her husband aside. Oriana accepted a hug and greeted the man in a similar way.

"Welcome," he said, stepping back to allow her entrance.

"Thank you. And please, Mrs. Magnus, call me Oriana."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Oriana," Mrs. Magnus said sweetly. "I'm just so used to hearing them talk about you on the news."

It had been a long time since Oriana had seen Charles' parents. They looked a lot older than she remembered them, but then again, she wasn't actually sure she had seen them since Charles and Jennifer had moved from Earth to the Jon Grissom Academy with Luna and Atlas.

"This is Spectre Agent Tom Domino," Oriana said, as Tom entered through the door. "Tom, these are Charles' parents."

Oriana then waved the rest of the group inside.

"These are the guests I called about," Oriana said. "Mrs. Dechalé, her daughters and assistant."

"They are most welcome," Mr. Magnus said, greeting the butler and the women politely.

Oriana nodded.

"I'm sorry we can't stay," she said. "But we have more work to do, and it is imperative that no one knows we were here."

"We understand," Mrs. Magnus said, giving Oriana another motherly hug, something that she had not had in decades.

Mrs. Dechalé embraced Oriana as well.

"Thank you," she said, her voice shaking.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Oriana whispered, fighting to stay calm and collected herself. "You will be safe here. I'm not going to tell you to stay indoors at all times or anything, but try not to advertise that you are here."

"Will you explain all this to me one day?" Mrs. Dechalé asked.

"I promise," Oriana said, just before she and Tom left the house.

-X-X-X-

 **The Citadel**

Both Kolyat and Sophia were wanted by C-Sec and the Alliance. Getting to Admiral Coats on the Citadel before the Coalition would be tough. Not only would they not be getting any help from C-Sec or the Alliance, but they could expect to be arrested at any point by either of the two organizations.

Thanks to a combination of Sophia's hacking abilities and Kolyat's stealth, they had managed to make it to Coats' apartment complex on the Presidium Ring without getting caught.

While Kolyat was currently waiting with a high-powered sniper rifle in a hotel room across the street, Sophia was inside Coats' apartment complex. She had cut the power for the entire building, and was on her way up in the elevator, which she had of course made sure would still have power.

"Can you confirm that the power is still out?" she asked

 _"Confirmed,"_ Kolyat's voice came clean through her earpiece. _"All the windows are dark."_

Sophia looked around the elevator. It was nicely decorated, revealing just how luxurious the building was. It made sense that an admiral would live in a place like this.

They had of course checked that the admiral was home before launching their plan, but Sophia was nervous. They knew for a fact that the Coalition would or had already attempted to get Coats under their control. She and Kolyat had no way of knowing if they had done so already. They had to be prepared for any scenario.

"What is Coats doing now?" Sophia asked.

 _"Just pacing the apartment, trying to switch on the lights and various electric appliances,"_ Kolyat replied.

Sophia smiled. So far, everything was going to plan.

She looked down herself and cringed. She did not consider herself to be overly concerned with appearance, she certainly didn't pay as much attention to her looks as Vera or Oriana. But the Citadel Tech Service uniform she had stolen just a few hours earlier really did not look good on her.

A loud beep pulled her out of her misery, as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

 _"Level 43,"_ a VI voice informed her, as she stepped out of the elevator.

There were only two apartments on the floor, so Sophia had no trouble finding the correct door.

 _"I have a visual on you,"_ Kolyat said.

Sophia looked to her right and out the windows at the hotel next door. Unlike the building she was in, the lights were on in most of the rooms. She knew Kolyat was in one of those windows, looking at her through the scope.

"Now, finger off the trigger, Kol," she joked, waving in a general direction of the hotel.

She then rang the doorbell, and the door was opened almost immediately. Admiral Coats was dressed sharply. Sophia had of course hacked the admiral's calendar, so she was fully aware that the admiral had just returned from a business dinner.

"Yes?" Coats said.

"Good evening, Mr. Coats," Sophia said in her most friendly tone. "I'm from Citadel Tech Service, and…"

"It's admiral," Coats corrected her.

"Gosh, sorry, _Admiral_ Coats," Sophia continued, attempting to behave like a civilian might. "But we're having some trouble with the power because of the ongoing work with building the new wards. Can I just come in for a moment? I will have your coffee machine running again in two minutes."

She flashed the admiral the smile that melted Prangley's heart when they were teenagers, and Coats groaned and stepped to the side, letting her enter the apartment.

Sophia stepped into a big living room, which in and of itself would be bigger than most people's homes. The room was full of expensive furniture, but also training equipment. Clearly, Coats liked to stay in shape.

"Can you fix things from in here?" Coats asked.

"Yes," Sophia replied, still looking around the admiral's home.

"I'll leave you to it then," he said and stepped into another room. But Sophia quickly followed Coats into what seemed to be an office. As she had hoped, she could see Kolyat's hotel out through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Perfect, she thought to herself and closed the door behind her.

Coats spun around.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "What could you possibly hope to fix in here?"

She took a step closer to him. "Hopefully a lot, Admiral."

She pointed down to his chest, where a red dot had appeared.

"I have an expert marksman," Sophia said. "Do I also have your attention, Admiral?"

Coats recognized the laser sight immediately. Chances were he even took notice of how little the red dot moved around his chest. He was an experienced soldier, so he would be able to tell, from just the limited movement of the red dot, that Sophia was not lying about the skill of her marksman.

Sophia had nothing against Coats. He had always seemed a bit pompous and full of himself perhaps, but certainly very capable too. She was not happy that she had to talk to him under these circumstances, but if Coats had already fallen under the Coalition's influence, like what had happened to Dechalé, they had no idea what he would do. She certainly felt a lot safer talking to Coats, knowing that Kolyat had her covered at all times.

"Do I have your attention, Admiral?" Sophia repeated her question, a bit more softly to make it seem less threatening despite the fact, that Coats was one twitchy drell finger away from death.

He nodded slowly, careful not to make sudden movements.

"You and your family are in great danger. Dechalé was recently kidnapped and killed, and I believe they intend to do the same to you, Admiral," Sophia began.

She wanted to gauge Coats' reaction to this initial bit of information. If she felt like he had already been contacted by the Coalition, she didn't want to give away what they already knew.

"Dechalé is dead?" Coats asked.

Sophia nodded. Unless Coats was a brilliant actor, she was certain that he and his family had not been threatened yet.

"We believe that the Alliance has been corrupted, and that Dechalé, and maybe other high-ranking Alliance officials, have been threatened or lured into working towards an impending attack on the Council. We now have good reason to believe that they are coming for you."

Coats looked pensive, clearly trying to make sense of it all.

"We believe?" he asked skeptically. "Who is _we_?"

"That is not important right now," Sophia said.

"Who do you think is coming for me?" he asked.

Before Sophia could answer, there was a loud knock on the door.

"Kol?" Sophia asked. "Who is that?"

 _"I can't tell,"_ Kolyat answered. _"They're not at the door you came in trough."_

"Is there another door?" Sophia asked the admiral.

He nodded and stepped back out into the living room.

"Over there," he said, pointing to a door near the kitchen area.

"Expecting anyone?" Sophia asked.

Coats shook his head.

 _"I haven't seen anyone enter the building. They must have been in the building when you arrived. You probably delayed them by cutting the power,"_ Kolyat said. _"Lure them into my line of fire."_

Sophia pulled out a pistol from underneath her tech uniform and handed it to Coats.

"I trust you remember how to use one of these, Admiral?"

"Please…" he huffed, taking the pistol. "I'm not that much of a desktop officer. I was in London when the reaper war ended."

"So was I," Sophia said and gave him a wink.

Sophia took out another pistol and hid it behind her back. Admiral Coats did the same.

"Wait, are we just opening the door?" the admiral asked. He looked like he was getting ready to pull out the pistol again.

"I trust my sniper," Sophia said. "And these guys want you alive."

She strolled over and opened the door. Immediately, four men in black uniforms stormed into the room, pushing Sophia and Coats back by pointing assault rifles in their faces.

"Get down! Get down!" they shouted.

Then there was a high pitched whistle-like noise, and the one pointing his weapon in Sophia's face collapsed. Then there was another shot, and the second man fell. The last two raised their weapons, but Sophia and Coats beat them to it and gunned them down.

The apartment was only silent for a moment, until Coats' wife came running out of the bedroom. She screamed as she almost tripped over one of the bodies.

"Get down, Mrs. Coats!" Sophia shouted. "There might be more of them!"

Mrs. Coats ignored her and continued into the arms of her husband, who quickly pushed her behind him and down on the floor, while keeping his pistol aimed at the still-open door.

"Status, Kol?" Sophia asked, stepping forward carefully.

 _"All clear from up here,"_ Kolyat reported back.

Sophia then popped her head out into the hallway, which seemed to be empty. Satisfied that they had managed to keep Coats and his wife safe for now, she returned to the apartment.

She gave the admiral a nod, and he finally lowered his pistol.

"Who are you?" the admiral demanded to know, pulling his wife to her feet.

Sophia holstered her pistol. "Chief Engineer of the SSV Normandy, Lieutenant Sophia Prangley, sir."

Coats stared at her in disbelief.

"We have been looking for you and your husband," he eventually said.

Sophia smiled.

"Yeah, well, I found you first, Admiral. We have a lot to talk about. But not here. I suggest you and the missus come with me."

Coats gave her a skeptical look.

"Are we being kidnapped by you instead of them?" he asked, kicking the foot of one of the bodies on his living room floor.

"You are being saved, Admiral," Sophia corrected.

Coats nodded thoughtfully. Eventually, he did agree to come with her, and Sophia and the Coats couple met with Kolyat on the street in front of their building.

"C-Sec is on their way," Kolyat said.

"A drell…" Mrs. Coats said.

"My sniper," Sophia introduced.

Admiral Coats gave Kolyat an acknowledging nod. "Good shooting."

Kolyat respectfully returned the nod and led them away from the area.

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

Jennifer stood between Charles and Luna, listening to EDI tell the Normandy crew about the successes of their missions on Earth and the Citadel.

"Kolyat and Sophia are taking Coats and his wife to Liara's lair, and Dechalé's family are safe and sound in the Magnus residence," EDI told them.

"With my parents?" Charles asked.

"It was Oriana's idea," EDI said.

"Great," Luna sighed sarcastically. "We saved them from an assassination, but now they are going to be bored to death by grandpa's stories…"

On the screen in front of them, Liara cleared her throat.

 _"Sophia and Kolyat are on their way here with Coats as we speak. If he believes us, he should be able to regain some control of the Alliance. The fact that the Coalition was so eager to get to him suggests that they don't have any other admirals under their control."_

"We need to talk about James," Charles said. "That was an awkward meeting, wasn't it?"

 _"I think we can trust him, but let's see how things go with Coats."_

Prangley, who had been pacing the floor, stopped for a moment.

"I agree," he said. "And the missiles?"

They had not learned much by visiting the abandoned Cerberus base. Meeting James, Kurt and Adina had been the most exciting, and strange, part of that mission.

 _"Actually,"_ Liara said, thoughtfully, _"If Coats cooperates, I think it's time for us to play our cards a bit more openly. I think we should alert the Council about the Coalition and their influence over high-standing Alliance and C-Sec officials. I think this is the time to warn them about the Coalition planning to wipe out the Council as well. Of course we should also tell them about the missiles."_

"What about the risk of forcing the enemy's hand by putting our cards on the table?" Prangles asked.

 _"There's still an unknown factor if another council race is involved in all this. We have some evidence to suggest this, but the risk of forcing the enemy's hand seems smaller now that we know that the Coalition can't fire their missiles without the launch codes."_

Jennifer sighed. Strangely, she found it relaxing that things were escalating. She preferred open war to all this secrecy. She just wanted to be pointed at the enemy and given permission to go at them with everything she had.

 _"I'm sending Kolyat back to the Citadel with Oriana and Domino,"_ Liara said. _"The human councilor needs to be there when we tell the Council about the Coalition. Otherwise it might look like she is involved."_

Prangley nodded. "And Sophia?"

 _"I will keep Sophia here to help with Coats. I will let the admiral talk to Oriana too, before she goes to the Citadel. That should help convince him that we are not the enemy,"_ Liara explained.

Jennifer covered a yawn with her hand. The previous times she had been on the Normandy had been a lot more exciting than this one. She needed a good fight.

Charles smiled at her and gave her an understanding wink.

"Stop it, you two," Luna complained. "No winks and dirty looks."

"What?" Charles said innocently.

Happy to take any opportunity to annoy Luna, Jennifer leaned against her husband and purred in his ear, just loud enough for Luna to hear it as well.

Their daughter made a barfing noise and turned the other way. "Disgusting!"

"Very disgusting, indeed," Joker agreed.

-X-X-X-

 **The Jon Grissom Academy**

Vera was finding it increasingly stressful to teach all of Jennifer's and Charles' classes along with her own. To make it possibly, she had been putting student from different classes together and occasionally asked the students from the advanced level to teach the basic level students.

Sitting in her office with the door to Ascension Hall open, she was interrupted in her preparations for the next class. Two students ran by her open office door, laughing loudly.

"Calm down!" she shouted. "There are students preparing for exams this week!"

"Yes, Mrs. Vega," one of them replied, continuing down Ascension Hall more quietly.

Vera smiled and returned to her work.

A few minutes later, she thought that the students were running in the hallway again, but it was a pair of Alliance guards passing by her door. There were plenty of guards at the Jon Grissom Academy, but they usually didn't patrol Ascension Hall. Vera didn't get a good look at them, but she was pretty sure she had never seen either of them before.

"Where can we find Atlas Magnus?" she heard a man's voice ask from the corridor.

A female student answered. "He is probably in his room. He lives just a few doors down from me."

Vera slowly rose from her desk. She was curious about these guards' interest in Atlas. Jennifer and Charles' son might be a bit of a scoundrel, and students did occasionally come in conflict with the Alliance guards, but their instructors were normally informed when this happened.

"Take us to his room," she heard the guard say.

"Okay," the student agreed.

A few moments later, one of Vera's basic level students, Kate Cole, walked past the door, followed by the two guards.

"Kate!" Vera called. "Can you come into my office for a moment?"

Kate's face reappeared in the doorframe. "Can it wait, Mrs. Vega?" she asked, smiling brightly.

"No," Vera said, and as soon as Kate was inside the office, she stepped past the little girl, out into Ascension Hall, and locked the door behind her.

She was now standing in front of the two Alliance guards.

"What do you want Atlas Magnus for?" she asked.

"He's caused some trouble over in the chemistry department," one of the guards answered. "We just need to ask him a few questions."

Something was definitely wrong, Vera quickly concluded. The Alliance guards were on the station to protect the students from outside threats. Not to play police. Even if Atlas had caused trouble, which was not at all unlikely, it would be up to the faculty to investigate and potentially discipline him, not the guards. These particular guards were not familiar to her at all, and while she was not on a first name basis with all of them, she was pretty good at remembering faces. She was almost completely certain she had never seen these two before, at least not at the academy. The guards should be able to locate Atlas' room by using their omni-tools. Getting little Kate Cole involved was completely unnecessary.

"I can take you to Atlas' room," she said.

"That will not be necessary," one of the guards said. "That little girl…"

"Kate is helping me with something," Vera interrupted firmly.

"Listen, lady," the guard said impatiently. "Return to your office immediately!"

She noticed how his fingers were twitching next to his pistol holster.

In that moment, Atlas stepped out from one of the classrooms followed by her own sons Mark and Antonio, whom she had brought to work with her. She immediately regretted that decision.

The guards seemed to recognize Atlas immediately, and a lot of things happened very quickly.

-X-X-X-

 **A dark prison cell in an unknown location**

Human history was full of terrible plans, but this one had to be among the worst. That was what Kurt was thinking, and now, sitting alone in a dark, cold cell, he had no idea why he had suggested this plan in the first place. He was literally just sitting in this hellhole, waiting for someone, he did not even know who, to pick him up. James had called the Alliance and told them that Kurt had been caught trying to help Prangley and was awaiting pick-up to go to an Alliance facility. Leaving prisoners to be picked up like this was not unusual Alliance procedure. If Prangley and the rest of Kurt's friends were correct, he would probably not be picked up by the Alliance, but someone much scarier, meaning that even if the plan worked, Kurt would be in serious trouble.

Kurt was not even completely sure where he was. He knew that the prison was built into an asteroid, much like Omega. And, being relatively close to Omega, the other prisoners were generally some pretty disturbing personalities. Kurt had already had to do serious damage to two of them with his biotics, just to make it clear to the other inmates that he was not to be messed with.

Adina had wanted to come to the prison with him to keep him company, but her mere presence would have made some of the otherwise big, scary inmates tremble. So she was now on the ship with James, and Kurt was all alone.

The fact that James and Adina were out there, hiding the ship among the asteroids, brought him little consolation. He was cold and almost certain that he would soon have to break another man's arm to reestablish his position as not-to-be-fucked-with in the prison.

"Definitely my worst idea ever," he sighed to himself.

After almost two whole days in the prison, Kurt's cell door was finally opened by three soldiers in black uniforms. They didn't seem to be from the Alliance. Maybe they were mercenaries or something. Or Cerberus maybe? Could Cerberus really be back?

He had expected Alliance marines, or at least somebody dressed as Alliance marines, to come for him. The black uniforms were unnerving. He would have preferred Alliance marines, even corrupt ones. These boys could be anyone.

Kurt backed into the corner of his cell.

"I swear I don't know anything!" he shouted. "I swear!"

Those words would activate the tracer and the microphone in his boot and alert Adina and James that he was being picked up. He now knew that they would be listening to him, and as they had agreed, Kurt began giving them as much information as possible without giving anything away.

"Three of you big boys, for little old me!" he laughed nervously, doing his best to sound like a mad man. "Is that really necessary, lads?"

The three men slowly stepped closer, wary of Kurt's movements. Perhaps they had been warned that he was a biotic.

"Nice uniforms," Kurt continued. "They say that black is slimming, but I guess there's a limit for everything, hey?"

And just like that, Kurt had conveyed that he was being taken by three big guys in black uniforms to Adina and James.

The men in black grabbed him roughly, and although Kurt did not resist, one of them drove his fist into his abdomen.

"OUGHH!" Kurt gasped, trying to catch his breath as he was dragged out of the cell.

Several of the other inmates laughed scornfully at him, as he was being dragged by their cells.

"Just kill the little cunt and be done with it," one of them, a man whose fingers Kurt had been forced to break the day before, yelled.

Kurt preferred not to be punched again, so he allowed the soldiers in black uniforms to take him out of the prison without struggling.

"Tell my girlfriend that I love her!" he dramatically shouted to the other prisoners before he was shoved through an airlock and into a shuttle. He hoped that somewhere, not too far away, Adina's heart had just melted a little bit.

-X-X-X-

 **The Jon Grissom Academy**

Vera watched as the two Alliance guards recognized Atlas and pulled out their pistols. She raised her hand and there was a bright flash of blue light. The guard nearest to Atlas seemed to be pulled on by invisible ropes from both ends of the hallway, and he was ripped in half. As blood sprayed all over Ascension Hall, Vera was shocked and very confused. She had not done anything that would rip the man apart like that.

She quickly looked over at Atlas who was staring disbelievingly at his own hands, while Mark and Antonio were standing open-mouthed and blood-stained behind him.

Before the other guard could do anything, Vera yanked the pistol out of his hand with her biotics.

"Go back inside the classroom," she told the three boys while pressing the pistol into the soft tissue under the guard's chin.

Mark and Antonio quickly obeyed their mother's order, but Atlas was still staring at his hands and looking at all the blood in Ascension Hall.

"Atlas, Dear. Go back inside with Mark and Antonio. I will come and talk to you in a minute, sweetheart. You have done nothing wrong. Just go back inside," Vera said.

Atlas slowly backed into the classroom and the door closed behind him. Vera returned her attention to the man in front of her. She pressed the pistol harder into the man's neck and forced him up against the wall.

"You saw what happened to your colleague. That is nothing compared to what I am going to do to you," she hissed. "If you come after our children, I'll come after you."

The guard swallowed hard, and Vera pressed the pistol even harder against his neck.

"Are there any more of you here at the Academy?" she asked.

The man slowly shook his head.

"No," he answered quietly.

"Are you sure?" she asked, pressing the pistol into his eye instead. "Take a minute to think about it."

"Yes!" he gasped. "We were the only ones. We were just here for the Magnus kid."

"Tell me who you're working for!"

"No."

She grabbed his throat, pushing the pistol harder into his eye socket. "Who?" she hissed.

"Terra Firma," he whispered.

She nodded slowly, still holding the pistol firmly against the man's eyelid.

"You're lucky," she said.

The guard sighed, releasing the breath he had been holding.

"I'll make this quick," Vera added darkly.

"Wait! Wai…"

Vera squeezed the trigger, there was a loud bang, and blood splattered onto the wall behind the man's head. As his body fell to the floor, Kaidan Alenko came running out from his office further up the hallway, no doubt alerted by the gunshot.

Kaidan's hands were glowing already, but he froze and stared in disbelief at all the blood and the two bodies – one of them in two pieces. Finally, he looked at Vera, who was still holding the gun in her hand.

"What!? Who!? What is going on!?" Kaidan asked in violent confusion, giving the upper half of the first guard's body a wide berth as he approached Vera.

"Sorry, boss," Vera said, handing Kaidan the pistol. "We need to talk about security here."

Alenko, who had been with the Alliance for many years, looked shocked. "Were they from the Alliance?" he asked.

"No," Vera said. "They were just in disguise. Now, I need to talk to the kids. You see that man? Atlas did that…"

"Holy shit," Kaidan sighed.

Vera nodded in agreement. "When Jennifer hears about this…"

"She will be proud," Kaidan whispered to himself, as Vera hurried into the classroom to speak with Atlas and her sons.

When she came in, Lawrence Madison, an older student, was sitting with the three younger boys, wiping blood off their faces with the sleeve of his uniform jacket.

"Thank you, Lawrence," Vera said, as he paused and looked up at her. "Please, go to the Alan Bean Auditorium and bring back Atlas' varren. Just call out for Eezo until he comes, or walk around until he ambushes you. Don't worry. He won't harm you. Bring him here for me, would you?"

Lawrence nodded and jumped to his feet. "I know Eezo."

Vera smiled at him. "Thanks, Lawrence. I'll tell Luna you helped her brother. I'm sure she'll appreciate that."

The boy blushed and left the classroom quickly. Vera took a deep breath and turned around to make sure that Atlas and her sons were okay.

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

"Try to keep the dumbbell in the air without looking at it," Charles said to Luna, correcting her stance slightly.

Luna nodded and looked away from the dumbbell she was levitating. Almost immediately, the dumbbell began floating from one side to the other until it dropped to the floor of the shuttle bay with a loud bang.

"Shit!" Luna cursed, lifting the dumbbell into the air again with an upward hand motion.

"With a little more practice, you will be able to do it without constantly having to concentrate on the object, let alone look at it," Charles said encouragingly.

Luna tried staring at Charles. This time, it took a little longer for the dumbbell to start to wobble in the air and fall to the floor.

"Good job, Luna," Charles said proudly.

"Thanks, dad."

Charles sat down on a crate.

"So," he said. "Is military life everything you dreamed of when you decided to go against our orders and sneak your way onto the Normandy?"

Luna snorted.

"There's a lot more waiting than I had expected," she sighed. "Very little actual fighting."

Charles nodded. "Lots of time to practice and prepare."

"Mum is just as bored as I am," Luna said with a crooked smile.

Charles had to agree with that. Patience had never been Jennifer's strong point.

"Do you miss school?" he asked.

Luna shook her head. "Nah… Being on the Normandy is still cool. EDI and Joker are even funnier here on the ship, and Raven is very nice."

"Your babysitter?" Charles teased.

"NOT my babysitter!" Luna insisted. "Corporal Raven Crow and I are colleagues… And becoming good friends."

"Glad to hear it," Charles chuckled. "It's good that you are making friends."

"Raven is fun to hang out with," Luna said.

"Aw, thanks, Luna," Raven said, joining them in the shuttle bay. "You are pretty cool yourself."

"And what am I?" Charles asked.

"You're lame, dad."

Raven laughed. "Oh, I wish my dad was half as cool as yours."

Luna quickly put her hand over Raven's mouth. "Please don't say stuff like that in front of him. He will be unbearable…"

She looked over at Charles, who gave the two young women a great big smile.

"Look what you have done," Luna sighed, releasing Raven.

Raven just giggled and sat down on a crate opposite Charles. Luna chose to remain standing, arms crossed.

"So, Raven… How is it working for EDI?" Charles asked.

Raven looked up at the camera in the corner of the shuttle bay.

"Keeping in mind that my boss is listening to every word anyone says on this ship, I would say that it is a fantastic job, and that EDI is an amazing boss," she replied.

 _"Correct answer,"_ EDI said via the loudspeakers in the room.

"But how is she really?" Luna whispered.

"A total bitch," Raven jokingly answered.

EDI gasped dramatically. _"Corporal Crow! How could you?"_

They all laughed. Charles was very impressed with how EDI's understanding of human humor had developed since he had first met the AI. He guessed she had been very young back then.

"No, seriously," Raven said. "EDI is a great boss, and I'm learning so much as her personal assistant. I'm working on a paper for my university about human-AI relations, which takes up most of my free time here on the Normandy. EDI has been a great help. And Joker too. With their relationship and parenthood, EDI and Joker represent an enormous milestone in human-AI relations."

"Nerd…" Luna commented, badly disguised in a fake cough.

Raven laughed. "Hey at least I'm out in the field. Most university students don't do their writing onboard warships."

Raven then asked if she could watch Luna and Charles practice biotics, but before they could get started, EDI called for everyone to gather in the conference room.

"What's up?" Charles asked as he entered the conference room a few minutes later followed by Luna and Raven.

"Liara is on the line," Jennifer told them, leaning against Charles as she often chose to do at these meetings.

Joker entered the room with EDI, and Liara appeared on the screen, this time flanked by Sophia, Princess Vidani and Admiral Coats.

 _"Hello, Normandy,"_ Liara said, as Sophia directed a wave at her husband.

"Hello," Prangley answered on behalf of everyone and saluted Coats. "Good to see you, Admiral."

 _"Likewise, Commander Prangley,"_ Coats answered, copying the salute. _"Dr. T'Soni has explained everything to me. I can guarantee you that I will do everything in my power to get the Alliance back under control."_

"Sounds great," Jennifer said.

 _"Obviously, this doesn't mean that we can trust everyone in the Alliance now,"_ Liara added. _"But I have high hopes that Admiral Coats can sort things out."_

Coats nodded, clearly upset by the corruption that the Alliance had been caught up in. _"This has gone on for too long!"_ he hissed angrily.

Liara put a supportive hand on the Admiral's shoulder.

 _"Oriana has left for the Citadel,"_ she said. _"Kolyat, Domino and Gabriel are all with her. Hopefully, she can explain this mess to the Council and warn them about the assassination plans. I fully expect them to start an investigation into the corruption at C-Sec and take precautions to inhibit an assassination attempt."_

 _"I will make sure that Councilor Lawson doesn't meet any opposition from the Alliance,"_ Coats guaranteed.

Liara nodded and explained that Coats and his wife would be staying at her base for their own safety. They had to keep the admiral as far away from the Coalition as possible. He would have to continue his work from the space station.

"That all sounds great," Prangley said. "But what do we do now?"

"Yeah," Joker chimed in. "The Coalition still has those scary missiles, and we can't be sure they won't find a way to launch them."

 _"Actually,"_ Liara said excitedly. _"My people have found a very promising lead. Another abandoned Cerberus base. Only, this one doesn't seem so abandoned."_

Charles could feel Jennifer moving back and forth next to him. A mission to a Cerberus base, a base with actual bad guys in it, was bound to get her excited.

Prangley cracked his knuckles. "That does sound very promising."

 _"Since we all agree that James can be trusted, I took the liberty of sending him the coordinates for the base as well,"_ Liara said. _"I was hoping you guys could meet him there and work things out between you."_

Charles nodded. This was one of his biggest worries. He did not like the fact that James was out there somewhere with Kurt and Adina, investigating this mess on his own without any of the information that they had. He had been understanding of the reasons for keeping James in the dark up until now. But with Coats on their side, Charles believed that making contact with James, Kurt and Adina should be one of their top priorities.

EDI stepped forward. "There's just one problem," she said. "James' ship appears to be in prolonged stealth mode. He will not be receiving or sending anything, as that might give away his position."

This did nothing to make Charles worry less for his friends. He wondered what James, Kurt and Adina could be up to that would require them to be in stealth mode for a prolonged period of time. In the end, he concluded it was best not to think about it.

"James will see Liara's message when they go out of stealth mode," Prangley said. "And even if he doesn't, we have to investigate that Cerberus base ASAP, with or without them."

Once Liara had declared the meeting over, everyone left for their posts as Joker and EDI plotted a course for the Cerberus base. Charles followed Jennifer to the starboard observation deck. Silently, they sat down on a couch and gazed out at the stars. They could hear the humming of the Normandy engine becoming slightly louder, and then the stars turned into a blur of light as the ship accelerated.

"I hope there's people there," Jennifer whispered, leaning against him. "Bad guys."

"I know," Charles said, putting his arm around her. "You've been itching to get into a fight ever since Prangley recruited us from the academy."

"Yes," she admitted. "I miss it."

"And this is another Cerberus base," Charles said.

She nodded eagerly. "Yup!"

Charles knew that his wife would never forgive Cerberus for what they had put her through as a child. But as far as anyone knew, the organization had died with the Illusive Man, and all Jennifer could take her anger out on now was the New Cerberus.

"What about Luna?" Charles asked.

"Luna can handle it," Jennifer said confidently. "She has proven herself."

Charles sighed. He had to keep reminding himself that Luna was as old as he had been during the reaper war. Somehow, in his head, their daughter seemed much, much younger than he had been in those days.

Whilst Charles was thinking about their upcoming mission, and about Kurt, James and Adina in particular, he sensed that Jennifer had fallen asleep next to him. He smiled and gently lifted her into his arms. Almost miraculously, he managed to carry her all the way to their bed without waking her up, but as he tucked her under the blanket, Jennifer opened her eyes. She blinked up at him with a look of mischief on her face.

"Do you remember how we used to unwind between missions?" she asked and pulled him onto the bed with her.

"Yes," he chuckled, as Jennifer climbed on top of him while quickly throwing off her top.

Soon, Charles and his wife were naked on the bed. Jennifer grabbed his erect manhood and Charles gasped, dropping his head onto the pillow, as she wrapped her tongue around the tip, sending jolts of pleasure through his entire body. She then proceeded to take as much of him as she could into her mouth, gagging slightly as she reached her limit. When she pulled back, a few strands of saliva connected him to her lips.

"EDI," Jennifer said, wiping the drool away. "Please lock the door… And turn off the cameras, you perv."

 _"Understood,"_ EDI's voice replied from a speaker somewhere in the room.

"Now," Jennifer said, licking her lips seductively. "Where were we, Mr. Magnus?"

After a good night's sleep interrupted only by Jennifer waking him up, asking him to have sex with her again, Charles woke up and stretched. At his side, Jennifer had, as was her custom, stolen the vast majority of their shared blanket.

Her leg was sticking out from under the sheet, and as punishment for stealing the blanket, as always, Charles gave her buttock a good slap.

"Ooh, baby!" Jennifer purred, slowly opening her eyes. "A bit harder, please!"

He chuckled. "I should have known that wouldn't work."

"If spanking me was meant to punish me, you know it'll only make me want to misbehave more often," Jennifer said, throwing the blanket aside, revealing her naked, tattoo-covered body.

"Do we have time for another go?" Jennifer asked, reaching out for him.

It was EDI who answered.

 _"No,"_ the AI said. _"We have arrived at our destination."_

Charles shrugged and put on his clothes while Jennifer sulked.

"Remember, you might get to fight today," Charles reminded her, and Jennifer immediately jumped out of bed.

Somehow, she managed to put on her Alliance combat uniform quicker than Charles despite a significant head start.

A few minutes later, they all assembled in the conference room. On the large screen they were watching images of a planet's surface.

"We are in low orbit," EDI explained. "You are watching live images of the planetary surface from the Normandy cameras."

The image zoomed in, showing details from the surface in incredible resolution.

"Our orbit will take us over the old Cerberus compound now," EDI said. "We will hold this position while we gather intel."

A large building surrounded by fences and many smaller buildings came into view on the big screen. EDI zoomed in further and Charles began to see moving black dots – soldiers in black armor patrolling the base.

"At least twenty individuals," Prangley counted.

The camera then zoomed in on something that looked like long tubes to Charles. Prangley took a step closer to the screen, which simultaneously zoomed in even further.

"Are those…?"

"The missiles," EDI confirmed. "I will begin to analyze them immediately."

Even more soldiers in black uniforms appeared on the screen.

"Shit," Joker said. "Looks like quite a party down there."

"Wouldn't you make sure you had plenty of guards if you were sitting on those missiles?" Jennifer said.

While discussing their plan of attack, they continued to look at the video feed of the base.

"Shuttle incoming," EDI said, and a few seconds later a black shuttle landed in the middle of the base.

A few of the guards rushed over to bring a person out of the shuttle.

"It looks like they're bringing in a prisoner," Raven Crow said.

"Oh no," Prangley sighed. "Another admiral? They are going to get those launch codes eventually!"

"No," Luna said, staring as the image zoomed in further. "It's Uncle Kurt!"

Charles squinted his eyes and stared at the screen. True enough. Kurt was being shoved along a tiled path towards the main building, surrounded by armed guards. His hands seemed to be bound behind his back.

"What the fuck, Kurt?" Jennifer muttered, but was interrupted by EDI.

"Commander, I'm picking up a signal," she said. "Captain Vega's ship has just entered orbit."

Charles was now utterly confused, because the last time he had seen Kurt, he had been with James.

"Let James know we're here," Prangley told EDI. "And ask him how the hell he lost Kurt!"

Half an hour later, James stepped onboard the Normandy. He was followed through the airlock by Adina T'Loak and one of her servants.

"Uncle James," Luna said, breaking the awkward silence.

She ran forward and hugged him before turning to Adina.

"Hello everyone," James said.

The atmosphere was even more awkward than it had been, when the two groups had run into each other earlier.

"James," Prangley said. "Adina."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Adina sighed. "Can we get on with this?"

"Yeah," Jennifer said. "We're all friends again. Great! Get a move on, so we can attack these fuckers!"

Charles exchanged a smile with Joker, who had spun his chair around in the cockpit. His wife was not known for her patience. Neither were the T'Loak sisters.

"Right," Prangley said, leading the way back to the conference room. As images of the patrolling soldiers were displayed on the big screen, EDI and Prangley started explaining everything they could about the Coalition, the plot against the Council, the missiles and the security breaches within the Alliance and C-Sec.

After taking all of this in, James quickly explained how they had given Kurt up to the Alliance to see where they would take him. Of course, Kurt had been picked up by the Coalition and taken to this very location.

"Fucking brilliant plan," Jennifer said, sarcastically clapping at James.

"Well, we had to do something, and you guys weren't exactly forthcoming with information," he bit back.

Prangley stepped between them. "The Alliance was compromised," he told James, who nodded.

"So you stole the Normandy and went rogue. You improvised," he said. "So did I."

On the screen, the guards were still patrolling the base, but Kurt had long since disappeared into the main building.

"Are they going to kill him?" Luna asked worriedly, glancing at the screen ever so often. Charles noticed that Adina was also looking increasingly concerned about the entire situation.

They had good reason to be worried about Kurt. His captors had already murdered high-standing Alliance officers, and were planning to assassinate the entire Council. Chances were that Kurt's life was not particularly dear to them.

"We need a plan," Jennifer said.

"Okay, so here's the gist of it, if I have understood you all correctly," James began. "Terra Firma and New Cerberus are planning to kill the entire Council. They want humans to rule the galaxy."

"No one would agree to that, even if they killed all the councilors," Adina interjected.

"Correct," Prangley said and pointed to the screen behind him. "There's a big fucking missile down there for anyone who disagrees with the new regime."

"How the hell did the Alliance get dragged into this mess?" James sighed in disappointment.

"Blackmail and intimidation," Prangley explained. "Get to the right people, and you will have a firm grip on both the Alliance and C-Sec."

James started pacing the floor.

"And did you honestly think that I was under their control too?" he asked, trying to hide his disappointment.

"No," Prangley said quickly. "I trust you. But I was afraid that you were taking orders from and reporting to someone under their influence."

For now, James seemed to be satisfied with this answer, and he stopped pacing back and forth.

"How the hell did you uncover all of this by yourselves?" Adina asked.

"Councilor Lawson, Spectre Agent Domino, Kolyat Krios and Liara T'Soni have played integral roles," EDI explained. "Oh! And I have finished my analysis of the missiles."

Prangley looked at her. "And?"

"And they are the real deal," she said. "Just one of them could wipe out half of Earth's population."

Adina crossed her arms. "Great… Can we please save my lover now?"

-X-X-X-

 **The Citadel**

Kolyat followed Oriana closely with all his senses. He registered the soft noise of her every footstep as she walked along the Presidium Lake to the tower. Even the slightest change in her pace, and he would notice immediately. He could smell her sweet perfume too, mixing in with other familiar odors of the Citadel. If he sprinted forwards, he could reach her and get between Oriana and a potential attacker in 0,63 seconds exactly. In that time, he could have pulled out either his sword or his pistol. Or both.

VIP protection was, after all, his job. As captain of the guard, Kolyat was responsible for the safety of the entire royal family. Furthermore, he was specifically responsible for his wife, the crown-princess and only living heir to the throne, and expected to give his life for hers without a second thought.

With this much responsibility on his shoulders, Kolyat was not exactly thrilled that he was now so far away from Vidani. But the princess had insisted that he should lend his services to Liara and Oriana, which was why he was now following the latter to a meeting with the other councilors. Slightly in front of Oriana was Spectre Agent Domino. A respectable, well-trained and serious man, Kolyat thought. He found it relatively easy to relate to Domino, who, like Kolyat, was professionally obligated to provide protection for his partner.

Oriana's return to the Citadel had not gone unnoticed, and many of the Citadel's human inhabitants came out onto the streets to watch their councilor as she took her place in the Presidium Tower. Luckily, C-Sec and the Alliance were doing a good job of controlling the crowd. Kolyat was still a bit wary of them, but Admiral Coats seemed to have made good progress in cleaning up the corruption already.

Kolyat was mostly nervous about how the Coalition would react to Oriana's return. She had already warned her fellow councilor's about the plan that had been concocted by New Cerberus and Terra Firma, and Kolyat feared that this would provoke the Coalition to strike.

In truth, they had no idea of when an attack on the Council might come. They did not even know for sure that the Coalition would still go through with their plan, now that it had been revealed.

Evidently, Oriana could sense the tenseness radiating from Kolyat and Domino.

"I have never felt safer in my life," she said, as she began to ascend the stairs to the council chamber, followed closely by her two bodyguards.

Just as she reached the top step, Kolyat's lightning quick reflexes kicked into highest gear. He threw himself forward and pulled Oriana back down the stairs as the large panorama windows of the council chamber exploded, and soldiers in black uniforms, propelled by jetpacks, came busting into the chamber.

Hovering in midair, the soldiers started shooting wildly at everyone and everything in the chamber. Kolyat instinctively pushed Oriana back and behind him, as Domino jumped to her side.

Oriana had been the last councilor to arrive at the Presidium Tower, and all the others, who had just been standing at their podiums, waiting to pass judgment on the issues of the day, fell to the floor under a barrage of bullets.

Kolyat analyzed the situation quickly. They had heard that another council race, besides humanity, might have worked together with the Coalition. If that was the case, they certainly did not seem to spare their own councilor. Everyone in the room, regardless of race, seemed to be a target to the soldiers in black.

He felt Oriana pull his pistol out of his shoulder holster, and a rattling noise next to him told Kolyat, that Domino was advancing on the attackers with his submachine gun. Oriana quickly followed with Kolyat's pistol, encasing herself and Domino in a biotic barrier. Kolyat quickly pulled out his own submachine gun and pushed forward with them.

-X-X-X-

 **Old Cerberus Base**

Kurt was pushed hard in the back and stumbled forwards into a dark room. With his hands tied behind his back, he could not prevent his head from hitting a steel pipe, and he stumbled to the floor, feeling dizzy and as if his head had taken a blow from a hammer.

He was immediately pulled to his feet by two bulky guards. He eyesight was blurry, and he could not keep his balance. But none of that mattered, since the room was almost pitch black anyway, and the guards forced him to sit on a chair, which he was then tied to.

After that, the guards left the room and closed the door, leaving Kurt in near total darkness.

He winced, wondering if he was concussed.

"Don't try to use your biotics," someone said from the corner of the room. Kurt flinched, surprised that he was not alone in the room. "We have disabled your biotic amplifier. Any attempt to use your powers would only give you a headache."

Kurt did not recognize the voice at all. All he could tell was that it belonged to a man, but it was impossible to catch a glimpse of the person in the corner of such a dark room. Kurt decided to do as he was told. His head was already swimming.

"You were helping Commander Prangley and your friends. Tell us your plans!" the man said in a threatening tone.

"You first," Kurt responded groggily.

Immediately, he received a blow to the back of his head, which nearly made him pass out. Ironic, Kurt thought, from a person who had seemed so concerned about saving him from a headache just a few moments earlier.

Kurt was starting to really regret ever suggesting this stupid plan. Clearly, he had not been picked up by the Alliance, even though they were the ones that James had contacted. If these people in black were from the Alliance, things were far worse than Kurt could have imagined.

"When are your friends coming for you?" the voice asked.

Kurt thought of James and Adina. According to the plan, they should be in the ship, hiding somewhere close to wherever he was currently being held. He hoped that the answer to the man's question was 'soon', but he had no way of knowing if James and Adina were even close.

"What are you talking about?" Kurt said, trying not to move his head too much, as this was very painful.

Kurt was hit again, and only barely managed to stay conscious. This time he could definitely feel his own warm blood running down his face.

"I know that your friends are out there somewhere," the voice said, annoyingly calm. "I don't believe for a second that you were actually caught by Captain Vega."

"So why bring me here?" Kurt asked. "If that is what you think, you have just brought him straight to your base…"

The man gave a chilling and deeply disturbing chuckle. "You can just sit there and find out, Mr. Nielsen."

The door to the room then opened, and Kurt caught a glimpse of the man's silhouette exiting. He was alone, actually alone this time.

Kurt was worried now. This man scared him. He was obviously aware that Kurt had not come alone, but he did not seem at all worried that James and Adina were somewhere nearby. His calmness was frightening.

Kurt hung his throbbing head. His wrists were sore from being tied, but he could barely feel it now. Just his head. Every time he moved any of the muscles in his face, Kurt could feel how the blood from the gash on top of his head had stiffened. It felt like he was wearing some sort of strange mask.

He regretted ever mentioning this incredibly stupid plan to James. Not just because of the pain in his head, but because of his interrogator's behavior. If he knew that Kurt was not alone, James and Adina were in serious danger, and there would be nothing Kurt could do to help them.

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

"We could just bomb it from orbit. With the two ships combined we should have enough firepower to do some serious damage," Prangley suggested.

"We just saw them take Kurt into that base," Adina reminded him. "We are not bombing shit!"

"Whatever we do, we have to do it quickly," James said. "Those missiles could kill billions."

Charles looked back and forth between his two friends. As Alliance officers and captains of a ship each, everyone looked to them for leadership.

"I'm going in after Kurt," Adina said stubbornly, crossing her arms.

Luna immediately went to stand with the asari. "Me too!"

"We all want to go," Prangley said. "But someone needs to stay here. If they have the launch codes and those missiles start flying, someone needs to be able to make the tough call. If they start flying, we need to shoot them down!"

"Then we'd all die," Charles said, feeling that he should point out that disturbing fact. "And this entire planet would be nothing but a crater."

Around him, the others nodded somberly. The seriousness of the situation was fully understood by everyone.

James and Prangley also gave each other a look and nodded.

"It is better than letting them fly," James sighed. "Think of all the lives."

"So," Prangley said, clapping his hands together. "We all want to get down there, but who wants to stay here and be our last line of defense?"

Adina and Luna had already committed to getting Kurt back. No one had any doubt that Charles and Jennifer were going with Luna.

"I should go," EDI said. "There might be a way to disarm the missiles from the ground."

Prangley nodded and looked at James. It would have to be one of them it seemed.

"I will push the button if it comes down to it," James said.

Prangley shook his hand. "I trust you, James. But let's hope you won't have to."

-X-X-X-

 **The Citadel**

Oriana pulled one of her fellow councilor's, the salarian Councilor Rainya, to cover behind the enormous body of the elcor councilor. The elcor was definitely dead, but Rainya, although she was bleeding profusely from several wounds and slipping in and out of consciousness, still had a weak pulse. Oriana regretted not bringing any medi-gel and tried to apply pressure to the wounds instead.

She glanced over the top of the dead elcor councilor and saw Kolyat on the other side of the council chamber. Kolyat had pulled out his sword and was fighting two soldiers armed with deadly shock batons. To her satisfaction, Kolyat was able to block both their attacks before slicing into them with his blade. Meanwhile, Tom was also holding his own, trying to keep the assassins away from any councilors who may have survived by laying down an impressive amount of fire.

More soldiers kept flying in through the busted panorama windows, and Oriana had to abandon Councilor Rainya to fling biotic attacks at them. When two landed right in front of her, Oriana managed to encase them in a biotic field and throw them back out the window, without their jetpacks.

Some form of grenade exploded in the middle of the chamber, and Oriana collapsed as a piece of shrapnel tore right through her calf. She only just managed to crawl to safety behind the body of her elcor colleague before another grenade, that would have surely killed her, went off.

"Oriana!" she heard Tom shout. He must have seen her go down.

At her feet, Councilor Rainya was passed out, possibly dead. Oriana did not have time to check. She reloaded her pistol, boosted her biotic barrier and leaned out to shoot around the dead elcor. She could no longer stand up, but she was not done fighting. Not at all!

-X-X-X-

 **The Dark Room**

Kurt was fighting to stay awake, but he kept slipping in and out of consciousness until the door was opened, and someone entered. Again, it was too dark for Kurt to tell who it was. However, the voice quickly revealed it to be the man from before.

"Hello again, Mr. Nielsen," the voice said smugly.

Kurt had no idea how long it had been since he had last spoken to the man. It could have been less than five minutes or several hours. In his half-conscious state, he had lost track of time.

The voice and the tone of the man was equally scary and infuriating, and Kurt was tempted to use his biotics to break free of his restraints. However, he quickly learned that the man had not lied to him about his amplifier. As soon as he even thought about using his powers, his head started to throb, shooting crippling jolts of pain out through his entire nervous system.

In the darkness in front of him, a small light suddenly appeared. It quickly grew bigger until Kurt realized that a monitor had been switched on right in front of his face.

He was now looking at the heat signature of a vessel which was, without a doubt, an Alliance frigate.

"They _did_ come for you," the man said from somewhere behind Kurt.

Kurt saw another smaller dot appear on the screen, approaching the heat signature.

 _"short range missile locked on target!"_ said a voice from the screen.

Kurt could barely dare to look, as the small dot zoomed across the screen, heading for the larger heat signature. The frigate-shaped heat signature began to move in the other direction, but it was too late. The small dot caught up with the larger one, and then they both disappeared from the screen.

 _"Alliance ship eliminated,"_ the voice from the screen declared.

"NOOO!" Kurt roared, fighting against his restraints and attempting to kick the screen in front of him, as if that would change the fact that James and Adina had just died.

"See?" the man said from somewhere behind Kurt. "Quite the show."

"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!" Kurt screamed, kicking and thrashing in an effort to get free.

He could not break free from the chair, and as soon as he tried to use his biotics, he almost passed out, trying to put too much stress on his nervous system.

"Wait, there's more," the man said, and the image on the screen changed.

Kurt almost did not dare to look, but he had to. On the screen he could now see white tiles, trees and the Presidium Lake. He was looking at security footage from the Citadel – more specifically, from the Presidium Tower. But the council chambers, which he was looking at, looked like he had never seen them before. There were bodies scattered across the floor, and people running around the room and soldiers in black flying jetpacks in through the windows.

The camera zoomed in on one of the figures on the ground, and Kurt could not contain his horrified gasp. Oriana was crawling on the floor, covered in blood and clearly in pain. Then Kolyat came sprinting into the frame, shooting a submachine gun at someone off screen. The drell threw himself forwards and slid along the floor, managing to grab Oriana and pull her out of the way of a storm of bullet.

On the screen, Kolyat then used his biotics to send Oriana sliding across the floor, which seemed to be glistening with blood too. Having removed Oriana from the most immediate danger, Kolyat only just managed to get to his feet before two of the soldiers in black armor entered the frame. The first of them raised an assault rifle and fired a burst at Kolyat who appeared to be hit, but managed to gun down both soldiers before he fell to his knees. With that, the screen went black again.

"What the fuck do you want?" Kurt asked, shaking with rage.

What he had witnessed was horrifying. Adina and James had been shot down, and Kolyat and Oriana looked like they were in serious trouble at the Citadel.

Kurt felt the man's hand on his shoulder. He was disgusted by his touch, but there was not much he could do.

"What we want is simple," the man said very calmly and quietly. "We want the galaxy. You and your friends just got in the way."

Kurt was desperately trying not to show weakness, but he could not stop himself from seeing images of Oriana covered in blood and Kolyat being shot. James and Adina were dead already, and it looked like Kolyat and Oriana were heading towards a similar fate. Luckily, the room was dark, and the son of a bitch behind him would not see the tears rolling down his face.

-X-X-X-

 **The Presidium Tower**

"Kolyat!" Oriana screamed.

She no longer cared much about the other councilors. She was just desperate for Kolyat and Tom to survive.

But she had just seen her drell friend fall to his knees and grab his abdomen. She tried to run back for him, but her leg was badly injured, and she could barely move. Then, Tom came running across the room and, sliding on his knees, he grabbed Kolyat's uniform, and the two continued to slide across the slippery floor and right into one of the flowerbeds adorning the council chamber.

There was only a handful of assassins left in the room at this point, but Oriana felt like she was going to pass out from the pain in her leg. Then, finally, C-Sec arrived on the scene. Oriana tried to get as flat to the floor as possible and created a biotic barrier. Even after C-Sec had dispatched the last of the assassins, she maintained the barrier. With all these betrayals within C-Sec and the Alliance, she was not about to take any chances.

"Take them all to Huerta!" the C-Sec commander shouted, noticing with a horrified expression on his face, that the entire council was on the floor in front of him, many of them riddled with bullet wounds.

Tom and Kolyat came limping out of the flower bed. Tom appeared to be bruised and battered, but not wounded as such. Kolyat on the other hand was grabbing his stomach and wincing with every step.

As they reached Oriana, a C-Sec officer relieved Tom in supporting Kolyat.

"Let's get you to the hospital," Tom said, helping Oriana to her feet.

But before she would let him, she wanted to check on all the other councilors being rushed to Huerta Memorial Hospital. Of all her fellow councilors, only the krogan, the salarian, the asari and the volus councilors had survived.

One of Oriana's best friends, the quarian councilor, whom she had known since her days as ambassador on Rannoch, was on the floor, lying dead next to the remains of the geth councilor, who had been shot to pieces.

The adrenaline was slowly leaving her system, and even with Tom's support it was hard for her not to break down, in pain or mental distress. When Kolyat collapsed next to her, and she felt like she was about to drop herself, Oriana finally allowed Tom and the C-Sec officers to take her to the hospital.

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

"They're gone," Joker said sadly, taking off his cap in a rare gesture of respect. "I'm sorry, James."

James sighed and looked at Joker's screen. A few moments ago, the dot that represented the SSV Romford had disappeared.

The ship was one that James had been given temporary command of, and the crew members were all employees of Aria T'Loak, but that did not make James feel any better. As captain of the Romford, the ship and her crew were his responsibility.

Adina had gone with Prangley and the rest of the ground team on a shuttle just a few minutes earlier. He was not sure if EDI had already informed the ground team of the loss of the Romford, and he was not sure how Adina would react to the loss of the entire crew. They had been her people, but on the other hand, James had never known the T'Loak sisters to be particularly sentimental about their employees.

James was not exactly happy that he had been left on the Normandy while the rest left on the shuttle. Once again, it felt like he was being kept on the outside of something. He also felt at least partly responsible for Kurt's situation, and if he had not agreed that someone should definitely be ready to react in case those missiles started flying, he would have demanded to play a role in rescuing Kurt.

He looked at Joker. The presence of the helmsman had a strangely calming effect on James – although he could be infuriating to most. But Joker had been there to fly the very first version of the Normandy, and he had piloted this very ship, both in its Cerberus days and with several Alliance retrofits. Joker had always been there. During the reaper way, when James first became a part of Shepard's crew, Joker had already been there for years. And when James took over command of the Normandy after Shepard's death, Joker never left, and he was still there when James finally passed the ship onto Jason Prangley.

James sat down in EDI's empty chair and looked at joker.

"What can I do for you, Skipper?" the helmsman asked. "I'm afraid I'm not very good to talk to in these situations."

Joker was silently nodding towards the screen that had revealed the sudden destruction of the SSV Romford.

James nodded. If he needed emotional support, Joker would not be his first choice.

He leaned back in his seat and sighed deeply.

"When all this is over, I think I might settle down," he said.

"Leave the Alliance?" Joker asked.

"Nah. But maybe find a more predictable and stable position. I'm tired of being away from my family all the time… Tired of ships. If you know what I mean?"

"Tired of ships…" Joker repeated. "No. I don't know what you mean, Vega."

James shook his head. He knew that Joker loved flying as much as he loved EDI and his daughter.

"You could teach with your wife," Joker suggested.

"I'm not a biotic."

"Last I checked," Joker said in his familiar, provocative tone, "the Alliance had other departments at the Jon Grissom Academy. Not just the Ascension Project."

James nodded. Vera had mentioned it to him. She had suggested that he could teach a subject like combat tactics or Alliance history. Up until now, leaving the battlefront to teach teenagers how to hold a pistol had seemed very unappealing to him, but now he was at least willing to reconsider.

He looked around the cockpit. The Normandy held many memories for him. Some good, some bad. This was where his relationship to Vera had blossomed. That alone gave the ship special status in his heart. This ship had belonged to Shepard, his mentor above all others. James had had the privilege to try to fill out the shoes after one of humanity's greatest heroes. Just thinking about Shepard gave him chills.

 _"The shuttle has landed,"_ EDI informed them through the speakers, bringing James back to the present.

Joker rubbed his hands. "Here we go!"

-X-X-X-

 **The Jon Grissom Academy**

Vera was in over her head, and she was not sure if she was being paranoid, or if she should have been even more scared than she was. Since the attack in Ascension Hall, Vera had brought all of her children to the academy, afraid that they would be targeted like Atlas.

She tried to make sure that all the biotic students stayed in Ascension Hall as much as possible, and she would not allow Atlas or her own children to leave the department at all.

Luckily, Atlas seemed to be dealing with the fact that he had essentially ripped a man to pieces quite well. Vera had made sure that Eezo was there to keep him company in Ascension Hall.

During the nights, Vera slept in her office with her children and Atlas, while most of the other students would sleep in the classrooms. Since the episode with the Terra Firma attackers, Vera and Kaidan were reluctant to let the Alliance guards near the children of the Ascension Project. Instead, Vera and Kaidan took charge of security near Ascension Hall with the help of the other instructors and the older students.

Her own children seemed relatively happy living on the station. Mark and Antonio enjoyed spending so much time with Atlas, and both Valentina and Vincent were playing nicely with the younger biotics.

Vera was still teaching her classes, often with some of the older students helping her. This morning, she and Kaidan were bringing food from Orion Hall back to their department so the students could have breakfast.

"Did you hear the news?" Kaidan asked, levitating an enormous crate of supplies in front of him as they walked.

She nodded. She had already been informed of the attack on the Council. Only a few of the councilors had survived. Luckily, Oriana was one of them.

"Do you think this has something to do with what Charles and Jennifer are doing with Commander Prangley?" Kaidan asked.

She was sure it had everything to do with that. And with Terra Firma trying to get to Atlas. But she could not connect all the pieces of the puzzle, and she had decided long ago, that she had to focus on just keeping the children safe. She really hoped that her husband and her friends were all safe, wherever they were.

They entered Ascension Hall where Lawrence Madison stood guard with two other advanced level students.

"Can I talk to you, Mrs. Vega?" Lawrence asked. He seemed nervous.

"Sure," Vera said, handing the food she had been carrying to one of Lawrence's classmates. "Let's go into my office."

Vera entered her office followed by Lawrence. In the corner, Valentina and Vincent were still asleep on an inflatable mattress.

"You two," Vera said, using her biotics to lift her two youngest children a few centimeters up into the air and dropping them back down on the mattress. "Enough sleep, breakfast is served."

There were a few grumbled complaints as Valentina and Vincent left the office, leaving Vera alone with Lawrence.

"What's up, Madison?" Vera asked, sitting on the edge of her desk.

"Do you know where Luna is?" Lawrence asked. "…And Mr. and Mrs. Magnus, of course…"

Vera repressed a smile. It was so obvious how infatuated Lawrence was with Luna.

"I don't," she answered honestly.

"I'm just worried," Lawrence said, wringing his hands. "With what happened to Atlas, and the Council…"

Vera nodded. "Understandable, and I wanted to thank you, Lawrence. You are really helpful, and that is what we want to see from you guys in advanced class. Luna is also helping out her parents, in her own way."

Lawrence sighed and nodded slowly. "She is so cool."

Vera smiled sympathetically. "Yes, she is. Perhaps you should tell her that when she comes back."

He just laughed nervously.

"Atlas seems to be doing okay, don't you think?" Vera said, helping the young man out by changing the subject.

Lawrence nodded. "I still can't believe he killed a guy."

"I don't think he meant to," Vera replied softly. "Atlas is a very powerful biotic, but he seems to rely on his instincts a lot, where other biotics like you and I work best when we are in total control."

Lawrence nodded again and Vera continued.

"Atlas reminds me of his parents when they were younger. When Charles was your age, he had no control of his powers at all, and Jennifer… Well… I shouldn't say too much, but her biotic powers definitely came from her instincts and emotions more than from fine control. Eezo is even more extreme. He seems to have no control at all, pure instinct and emotion."

Lawrence smiled. "I should get some breakfast too," he said.

"Yes," Vera said, following him out of the office.

In the hallway, she ran into Atlas and asked him to join her for the meal. They picked up a few slices of toast each and sat down in the back of a classroom.

"What's up?" Atlas asked.

"Just checking on you."

"I'm good."

"Sure about that?"

The 12-year-old nodded with a reassuring smile. "I am okay, Auntie Vera. I was very scared, but now I am okay."

"Promise to tell me if anything changes?" Vera asked.

"Of course," Atlas said. "But, really, it's okay. They were bad people."

Vera nodded in agreement.

"You shot the other guy," Atlas said after a quiet pause. "I heard it. How are you feeling about that?"

Vera ruffled his hair. "As you said… They were bad people."

They were then joined by EDI, in the form of her secondary maternal body, and her daughter Hilary. Five year old Hilary had made good friends with Vera's youngest, Vincent, since he came to live at the Jon Grissom Academy.

"Good morning," EDI said.

Vera welcomed EDI and her daughter. Hilary was obviously named after Joker's sister, whom Vera had known during the reaper war. Sadly, Joker's sister, also a brilliant pilot, had not survived the war. Little Hilary held out a piece of buttered toast for Vera.

"For me?" Vera asked.

Hilary nodded shyly.

"Thanks," Vera said, accepting the slice of bread. "That is very sweet of you."

"She thinks you're very pretty," EDI whispered.

Vera nearly blushed. "Aw…"

EDI, who obviously did not need to eat anything, watch the others have their breakfast. While they were eating, Vera enjoyed watching the older students helping the younger ones with breakfast and interacting with each other. Watching the teenagers was never boring. She tried to remember if she and her friends had been acting so silly when they were in the Ascension Project as teenagers.

As far as she remembered, she had not been quite as gossipy as some of these girls, but she was sure that she and Seanne Bellarmine had actually been just as bad at times. She remembered how the walls in her room, as a teenager, had been almost completely covered by posters of hunky marines.

A few of the boys were stealing glances at EDI, and Vera knew exactly why. Besides being less resistant to bullets and explosions, this body was a perfect copy of EDI's original Cerberus-designed body. For some reason, Cerberus had given EDI the body of a swimsuit model. There was a reason Jennifer sometimes referred to her as 'Sex Bot'. Vera was happy to allow EDI to enjoy some of the attention that she would normally get from the teenage boys.

"Do you miss Joker?" Vera asked.

"No," EDI replied immediately. "I am with Joker right now. Remember, I exist here as a programmed representation of me. I made this body to loyally represent me, but I am actually still inside the Normandy with Jeff. And in my original humanoid body of course."

"So you do not miss Joker, because _you_ are actually not away from him. Just this body?"

"Correct," EDI confirmed.

Vera nodded. She loved speaking with EDI about her life. The way she saw the world was so different.

"I wish you had a direct connection to the Normandy, so we could find out what they are doing right now," she said and took a bite of her toast.

-X-X-X-

 **Old Cerberus Base**

As Luna followed her parents out of the shuttle, a thought popped into her head. She was not supposed to be there. If she hadn't disobeyed her parents, she could have been safe and sound back at school with Atlas and all her classmates. She missed it, she realized. Her instructors, the lessons, her friends and her brother.

She shook her head. She had to focus. This mission would be dangerous. These people were holding her Uncle Kurt prisoner, and those missiles were clearly no joke.

"They must know we are here," Prangley said, as he slowly led the group forward, followed by Adina, Charles and Jennifer with EDI and Luna bringing up the rear.

"Let's assume so," Jennifer agreed. "We landed in the fucking courtyard."

Luna glanced over at EDI, who was constantly scanning the buildings surrounding them. The AI, who had been so helpful to her when she snuck onto the Normandy as a blind passenger, looked scary. Like a dangerous, sexy killer robot with her assault rifle, ready to shoot at the first sign of movement.

Her father looked back at her. "You okay?"

She nodded, swallowing her fear.

"Why have they not attacked?" Prangley asked.

"…Yet," Jennifer added at the end of his sentence.

"Maybe they're…" Adina started, but none of them heard the rest, when an enormous explosion nearly burst Luna's eardrums.

"Get down!" her father shouted and raised a biotic barrier before Luna could even fathom what was going on.

Rattled by the explosion, Luna spun around herself, trying to locate a clear threat. Eventually, she found a target, as dozens of soldiers in black armor started pouring out into the courtyard from various buildings.

"Here we go!" Jennifer growled, sounding much more excited and less scared than Luna felt.

She raised her pistol and opened fire on the advancing soldiers, only to see her bullets ricocheting off their armor.

"Warp fields!" Charles shouted. "Tear their armor apart first!"

Luna nodded, remembering her training. She concentrated and sent the strongest warp field she had ever created in the direction of a small group of enemies. The rapidly shifting mass effect fields tore apart the armor of the soldiers, leaving them exposed to EDI, who gunned them down with her assault rifle.

"Good job, Luna!" Jennifer shouted, sprinting past her, straight into another group of enemies.

Luna, who had not witnessed her mother in an actual fight like this before, was shocked. She had always known that her mother's style was unorthodox, but she had honestly not expected to see her run head first into enemies like that.

With a barrier that seemed to absorb an impossible amount of bullets, Jennifer ripped into the soldiers, throwing them around like ragdolls and literally tearing them to pieces. It was not pleasant to watch.

"Holy shit!" Luna gasped, freezing for a brief moment to watch her mother fight.

"Grenade!" Prangley shouted, and Luna realized that she had been stupidly standing still in the middle of the courtyard. Before she could react, her father took her into his arms, and then she felt a nauseating acceleration, as Charles used a biotic charge to bring them both all the way across the courtyard and far out of the blast range.

"Thanks, dad," Luna said, as he put her back on her feet and turned around to help the others.

Luna was not satisfied with being the damsel in distress. She wanted to bring more to the team, and, inspired by her mother's bravery, she opened the nearest door and rushed into the building without knowing what she would find inside.

She quickly closed the door behind her, and the battle noises from the courtyard were significantly dampened. This was not the building where Kurt was held, but perhaps she could find a passage connecting the buildings. So Luna started moving further into the building, which seemed completely empty.

Suddenly, she heard voices calling out commands from a room further down the corridor.

"Understood, Sir. More guards to the courtyard!" someone answered and ran out of the room. A young man, probably not more than a few years older than Luna, nearly collided with her.

"Wha…" he gasped, but Luna was quick and clamped a hand over his mouth.

He struggled, but Luna's biotics did more than cancel out his larger muscle mass.

"Stay quiet if you want to live!" she whispered, dragging him away from the room he had just appeared from.

The young man followed. Not that Luna had given him many options. The hand that was not keeping his mouth shut was pressing her pistol into his spine.

Luna pushed him up against a wall, adding a little biotic strength to let him know that she was not to be messed with.

"Easy, easy!" he mumbled against her fingers, as Luna made him spin around and face her.

She was now pressing her pistol into the soft tissue underneath his chin.

"I'm going to remove my hand," she whispered. "If you as much as clear your throat, you're dead, understood?"

He nodded, and Luna slowly removed her hand from his face, keeping the pistol pressed against his throat.

"There is only one way you might survive today," Luna continued. "Do what I say, or I will kill you here and now."

He nodded again.

"The people in that room," Luna asked, nodding towards the room that he had just exited from, "are they friends of yours?"

He shook his head.

"So they would not care if somebody hurt you?" she asked and received a shrug as her answer.

Luna quickly ditched her plan of walking into the room, using the young man as a human shield and hostage to exchange for Kurt. But if they genuinely did not care about him, using him for that purpose would not be an option.

"Wait here!" Luna said. "Move and you die!"

The young man nodded, too scared to speak.

Satisfied, Luna walked up to the door. She could hear voices still issuing commands, ordering more guards to the courtyard. It sounded like her parents, Prangley and EDI were doing some serious damage outside.

Luna looked at the young man, who was standing completely still, as she had ordered him to. She took a few deep breaths and opened the door to find a small room filled with men and women in black uniforms. Luna counted quickly, there were ten of them. It appeared to be some sort of command center.

"Wait! Who are you!?" a woman called out from behind her computer screen.

"SHE'S ONE OF THEM!" the man next to her shouted.

This initiated three different reactions from the people in the room. Some threw their hands in the air, staring fearfully at Luna's pistol. Some simply froze in their seats. And, finally, some of them raised weapons.

Against ten, Luna knew that her pistol would not help her. She had to rely on her biotics. She created a singularity in the middle of the room, and computers, coffee mugs, weapons and people were pulled to the center of the singularity, crushing everything in the intense mass effect field.

With everyone in the room except herself floating around the singularity, trapped by its incredible mass, Luna detonated the gravity-manipulating field, resulting in a huge explosion that instantly killed them all and sprayed parts of computers and humans around the command center.

Luna stumbled back until she bumped against the wall.

"Shit!" she whispered, staring at her hands, one holding a pistol and the other still emanating pulses of blue light. "Shit, shit, shit!"

When the Normandy had been boarded, she had used her biotics to harm another living person for the first time. But this was different. She had just taken the lives of ten people, and she had done it with just the power of her mind and a few well-practiced waves of her hand.

She was scared by her own power. Was it really this easy to kill?

It was _not_ easy, she realized, as she looked up at the ceiling to avoid looking at all the bodies. She was shaking, and her head was throbbing. Not only was she finding it hard to deal with the fact that she had just taken ten lives, she had clearly gone to the limits of her capabilities.

She wiped her face, making sure she had no tears in her eyes before stepping back out into the corridor. She needed to be strong.

As ordered, the young man stood where she had left him. His eyes were big, and he was obviously terrified. She wondered if he had any idea what she had just done to his colleagues.

She looked at him, wondering why he had not run away. There had been plenty of time. "You're still here?"

He nodded furiously, but appeared to be frozen in place.

"I won't kill you if you help me," she said, meaning it. Surely, she had killed enough for one day.

Again, he nodded, but seemed otherwise frozen stiff with fear.

"You have a prisoner," Luna said. "Take me to him."

The young man nodded, looking down the corridor and pointing.

"You can speak now," Luna said, holstering her pistol.

"That way," he mumbled, still pointing further down the corridor.

"Lead the way," Luna ordered, gesturing for him to go in front.

The young man reluctantly started walking down the corridor. Luna followed. From outside in the courtyard, she could still hear the battle going on. Obviously, the Coalition were fighting hard to protect the facility. But they did not seem to know that Luna had already made it inside.

Her hostage led her to a stairwell and they went down several floor. They had to be below ground level. The stairs led them to another long corridor, which was more dimly lit. Luna had guessed correctly. This was how she would get from one building to the other.

Fortunately, the corridor was empty, as most of the guards seemed to be either at their posts in the buildings above them or out in the courtyard.

"Hey," Luna said. "What is your name?"

"Liam," he cautiously told her.

"Why are you doing this?" Luna asked, perplexed as to how a man just a few years older than her had gotten involved with New Cerberus and Terra Firma.

He shrugged. "It's just a job."

"Do you know what those missiles are capable of?"

Liam nodded, but to Luna it looked like he had been trying really hard not to think about those weapons outside their compound.

Luna shook her head. "And you're fine with that? You hate the other races that much?"

"Don't pretend like you know me!" he hissed.

"Explain it to me!" Luna bit back.

He sighed.

"Aliens killed my parents…"

"What… All of them? All aliens killed your parents?" Luna asked. "You must realize that you're taking revenge on billions for the crime of a few individuals! Humans never make mistakes?"

"I envy your privileged childhood. On Omega, we were taught not to trust."

Luna stopped, and Liam turned around to face her.

"Don't pretend you know me either," Luna said to him. "And you're from Omega? Do you even realize who your prisoner is?"

"No," Liam said.

"It's Adina T'Loak's boyfriend. She is out there in the courtyard right now…"

In that moment there was a loud explosion somewhere above them.

"T'Loak?" Liam repeated. "Shit! You work for her?"

Luna shook her head. "She's kind of like my aunt, I guess."

He looked at her, seeming confused. "Your uniform, I don't recognize it. Who are you?"

Luna looked down at her Ascension Project Uniform. There were spots of dirt and blood on it.

"You know what, Liam. I have been about as personal as I want to be with a would-be murderer of billions. Just take me to the prisoner."

Liam nodded and they continued down the underground corridor until they reached another stairwell. As they ascended the staircase, the noise of battle was becoming louder and louder. Then there was another noise. Footsteps, coming down the stairwell.

"Stop," Luna hissed at Liam, who obeyed immediately.

Then a group of three men appeared on the stairs. They stopped as soon as they saw Luna and Liam. Like Liam, they were wearing black uniforms, but no armor. These were not soldiers.

"What's going on here?" One of them asked. "Who's the girl?"

"We are under attack, boy!" the other continued. "And you've brought in some whore!"

"Oh, I'm not a prostitute," Luna assured them, whipping out her pistol.

She had placed three shots in the chest of the man that had called her a whore before the two others could even react. Then, while keeping her pistol aimed at Liam to prevent him from running away, she used her biotics two throw the other two over the railing and send them plummeting down the stairwell. She heard them land with a dull thud, and everything was quiet once again, apart from the noise of battle from upstairs.

"Please don't do that to me later," Liam said, staring at her.

Luna holstered her pistol again. "That all depends on you."

They managed to ascend the rest of the stairs without trouble, and Liam led the way to Kurt's location.

Luna entered a small, dark room and found a chair in front of a screen.

"He… He was here!" Liam assured her, running around the tiny room as if he could find Kurt in one of the corners.

"Liam…" Luna sighed, raising a glowing fist. "I thought I made it clear that it would be in your best interest to remain useful to me?"

"No, no, no!" he said, still running around in circles. "He _was_ here!"

"AND WHERE THE FUCK IS HE NOW?" Adina roared, entering the room followed by Prangley, EDI and Luna's parents.

Adina grabbed Liam by the throat and hoisted him into the air, holding up a biotically charged fist, ready to strike.

If Liam had been scared of Luna, it was nothing compared to how he looked down at the infuriated asari, holding his entire bodyweight up as if he weighed nothing. Clearly, he recognized her as Aria T'Loak's sister, and, as a former citizen of Omega, he knew exactly how much danger he was in.

"I… I… I don't know!"

"WHERE!?" Adina shouted.

Liam paled. "Maybe they evacuated. On the roof. There is a shuttle!"

Luna quickly looked away as Adina squeezed the life out of Liam and tossed his body into the corner of the room. "Useless," she spat.

"What happened?" Charles asked. "We were really worried!"

"Sorry," Luna said. "I wanted to save Uncle Kurt."

"We'll talk about this later," her mother said.

Taking care to avoid looking at Liam's lifeless body, Luna turned and followed the rest of the group out of the room. She was not sure what she would have done to Liam herself, but seeing Adina kill him had not been pleasant.

On the roof of the building they found an empty shuttle landing pad.

"I could send a message to Jeff to shoot it down," EDI suggested. "They can't have gotten far."

"No," Prangley said. "We are not shooting. We are getting Kurt back alive."

Adina, who looked devastated, gave him a grateful nod.

"The missiles," Jennifer said. "Can we bring them with us?"

EDI and Prangley walked to the edge of the roof. Luna and the rest followed and looked down at six enormous missiles lying in neat rows at the edge of the base.

"If we land the Normandy, we should be able to make room for them in the shuttle bay… But only just," EDI said.

"Good," Prangley said. "Get Joker down here."

"What do we do with them though?" Charles asked. "No one should have this kind of weapon."

"No," Prangley agreed. "Even if we disarm them and without the launch codes, we should not give them to anyone."

"So we destroy them" Jennifer concluded. "Completely."

"We don't have the launch codes either, so we can't just shoot them into the nearest star," Prangley said.

As the Normandy swooped over the base and landed next to the missiles, EDI suddenly smiled. "But we have a ship."

-X-X-X-

 **Huerta Memorial Hospital**

The beeping noises. The sterile smell. Busy footsteps. Kolyat recognized it all before even opening his eyes.

In his brain, his perfect memory produced images of his father. Thane Krios, one of the most experienced and gifted fighters in the history of the drell people, was on a hospital bed, crippled by Kepral's Syndrome. The disease was killing their people, and if Kai Leng had not come along, it would have taken the life of Kolyat's father too.

Kolyat had spent so many years of his youth resenting his father for not being around. And when he was finally reunited with his father and forgave him, Thane was hospitalized, mortally ill.

Kolyat let go of the memory and opened his eyes to a brightly lit room at Huerta Memorial. In the bed next to his, Oriana was reading from a datapad.

"Oh, you're awake," she said, smiling at him.

"Yes," he said, his voice croakier than usual.

"Your operation went well," she informed him. "With plenty of medi-gel, you should be back on your feet tomorrow."

"And you?" Kolyat asked.

"I will be fine," Oriana assured him. "Thank you, Kolyat. You and Tom really saved my butt back there!"

"And the rest of the Council?"

Oriana hung her head. "So many dead."

Tom then entered the room followed by Liara, Sophia, Gabriel and Vidani. Kolyat gasped when his wife ran to his bed. She was so beautiful.

"You're back on the Citadel?" Oriana asked.

"Yes," Liara answered, while Kolyat kissed Vidani. "According to all my channels, the Coalition is on the run. Their plot has failed."

"But they nearly wiped out the Council," Gabriel said.

"They did," Liara admitted. "But they did not succeed in placing humanity in control. The Alliance and C-Sec appear to be back in order, and Prangley and his team have secured the missiles."

Kolyat kissed Vidani again. Even harder this time. This was such good news. Hopefully, they would soon be able to get back to work on their plans for moving the drell from Kahje to Rannoch.

"So we won?" Oriana asked.

"Yes," Liara said. "We won. But it is worrying to me that the galactic community was not better equipped to handle this."

"You are right, Liara," Sophia said. "It's a disgrace that the Coalition could cause so much damage. So many people have died, including many councilors. If it hadn't been for you and Oriana, who knows what could have happened?"

"It wasn't just the Coalition, I'm afraid," Liara said, hanging her head in shame. "Remember how we suspected that another Council race was part of the Coalition's plan… They had asari help."

"Asari?" Vidani asked. "Why would asari place humans in command of the galaxy?"

"Not our government, not the matriarchs…" Liara sighed.

Liara then explained how the Coalition had been supported by a group of asari war veterans.

"They survived the reaper war but developed PTSD-like symptoms from having to shoot indoctrinated friends and sometimes even mates," Liara said.

Gabriel nodded and took over the explaining.

"These veterans are not satisfied with the therapeutic help they have been given by the Council. They almost seem to worship Commander Shepard as the one who finally saved them from the reapers, and because of the commander, they are willing to replace the Council with human leadership."

"It's not rational," Liara sighed. "But as I said, they are sick."

"Many of the attackers from the council chambers turned out to be asari," Gabriel said. "Apparently, the asari veterans also supported the Coalition with credits and by doing some of their dirty work for them."

"I should apologize on behalf of my race," Liara said, hanging her head.

Sophia snorted. "I think, if anyone, humanity has more to answer for here, T'Soni."

Liara sighed. "Mostly, I am sad that Shepard's name is being dragged into this mess."

"Don't even say that," Gabriel said. "They were sick, and the commander had no relation to this. None. It's not rational, and everyone will be able to see that."

Kolyat breathed a deep sigh and took a moment to appreciate the fact that he was alive and had his wife by his side. This crisis, which now seemed to be over, had cost many lives, and his and Vidani's could have been among them. Now, he was looking forward to returning to the palace. Surely, he had deserved a few years of peace now.

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

"It's a good thing we have a ship as awesome as this one," Joker said, "or this would not be possible."

"Aren't we lucky," Prangley said, tapping the top of the helmsman's cap.

"Can you get us close enough?" James asked.

"Jimmy…" Joker sighed. "Don't be silly!"

Charles watched anxiously as they approached a giant white star in front of them. Joker was taking them closer and closer, very carefully.

"You know, most pilots probably couldn't even do this," Joker said, his fingers dancing across the controls.

In the co-pilot's seat, EDI closed her eyes and shook her head.

"This is mental," Charles said, as the entire ship started to shake violently.

Joker leaned forward in his seat. "Just a little closer…"

"Joker…" Prangley said, nervously grabbing the back of the pilot's seat.

"A little bit more…"

"Jeff!" EDI said sharply.

"Alright, that's close enough," Joker said, as the Normandy continued to rattle and shake. "This is way too close for a stable orbit, but far enough away to allow us to escape the gravity of the star."

"And the missiles?" James asked.

"Should fall right into the star and explode. If the biotics can throw them out of the shuttle bay," Joker said. "But I wouldn't leave the doors open too long, unless you want a healthy dose of radiation sickness. We are awfully close to that star."

Charles nodded. "That's us, buddy," he said, patting Prangley on the back. "Let's get this over with so we can get back to rescuing Kurt."

In the shuttle bay they met up with Jennifer, Luna and Adina.

"Ready for this?" Prangley asked the group of biotics.

"Those things are going to be heavy," Luna said, looking at the missiles that only barely fit inside the shuttle bay. Still, they were relatively small compared to their insane destructive power.

Jennifer nodded. "As long as we get them out of the door, gravity should do the rest."

"Just don't bump them into anything," Prangley added importantly.

The entire ship was still trembling, as Joker presumably fought to prevent them from being pulled in by the enormous mass of the star.

 _"Are you ready?"_ EDI asked.

"Yes," Prangley said, nodding at the camera in the corner of the shuttle bay.

 _"Opening the shuttle bay doors."_

Slowly, the doors opened, and everyone squinted as the incredibly bright sun forced its rays into the shuttle bay. Charles was not sure if he could actually feel the heat. It was like his brain was telling him, that he should be burning up, but of course the Normandy's energy field was actually protecting him from the temperatures and lack of atmosphere outside. Still, his skin was tingling.

"Let's get on with this!" Adina said, using her biotic powers to lift and throw the first missile out of the doors and out into space.

About a minute later, they were done, and EDI closed the doors.

The ship immediately began to rattle even more violently and make horribly creaking noises as Joker powered up the engine in order to escape the gravitational pull.

 _"And that's how you fire missiles without launch codes,"_ Joker announced triumphantly to the entire ship.

With the missiles taken care of, the task of rescuing Kurt had the full attention of everyone on the Normandy. Luckily, the tracing mechanism that James had put in Kurt's boot was still active, and EDI plotted an intercept course.

Nobody wanted to say it out loud, but Charles knew that there was a very real risk that Kurt was no longer alive, since the Coalition's plot had failed already. But obviously, none of them even considered not going after Kurt. Even if there was a small chance that he was alive, even if they were just retrieving a body, even if they were just avenging his death, they would follow that signal.

Obviously, Adina was particularly impatient. Kurt's on-and-off relationship with the princess of Omega had gone on for many years before Adina finally accepted a more steady arrangement. Along the way, Charles, Jennifer and even Kurt himself had often wondered how much she actually liked him. Seing her now, there was no mistaking the look in her eyes. It was fear. She was afraid of losing him.

As Joker and EDI was piloting the Normandy in a mad dash to keep up with the trace signal, Charles, Jennifer and Luna were sitting on ammunition crates in the shuttle bay, watching Adina pace back and forth and talking about home.

"I actually miss exams a little bit," Luna said.

"Well, you're a nerd," Jennifer chuckled, bumping her daughter with her shoulder.

"So you've had enough adventure for now?" Charles asked.

"For now, yes," Luna admitted. "I miss my friends. Hell, I even miss the classroom lectures."

"Good," Jennifer said. "We still haven't decided how much detention we should give you for sneaking onto the Normandy."

"Uncle Kurt once told me that he held the school record with two weeks."

Charles rolled his eyes. "I was thinking upwards of five years."

-X-X-X-

 **Jon Grissom Academy**

Vera had received great news from Liara. What had happened in the Council Chambers at the Citadel was obviously a horrible tragedy. The worst single event in the galaxy since the reaper war. But Vera had, perhaps a bit selfishly, been so delighted to hear that Oriana had survived, and even more so when she was told that James was okay and safely aboard the Normandy.

The obvious disaster was Kurt's kidnapping. Vera was not clear on the details of how Kurt had ended up in the possession of these monsters. All she knew was that her best friend since early childhood was in the hands of murderous psychopaths, and that was a terrifying thought. Liara had assured her that James and the rest were already chasing down the kidnappers.

At the school, things were slowly returning to normal. Since the arrival of Liara's message, the Ascension Project had not been as closed around itself, and Vera and Kaidan had begun their attempt to return to business as usual. Naturally, this was difficult with two instructors missing.

Vera was very happy to see how well Atlas seemed to be handling the recent events. He appeared to be exactly the same energetic 12-year-old as before. At this moment, she was watching him, playing with Eezo and Vera's own children, who were still living on the station. Obviously, any game that included Atlas or Eezo, and particularly the two together, required adult supervision.

Vera watched as Vincent jumped out of Eezo's way, as the enormous biotic varren galloped through Orion Hall. Her youngest got back on his feet with a big grin on his face and took off after Eezo. Several other students also had to jump to safety, as Atlas zigzagged in and out between the many round tables, followed by Eezo, who in turn was being chased by all four of Vera's children.

She sat down at a table with some of her older students.

"What's the latest gossip?" she asked

Pernilla White and Whitney Chalmers giggled. Being students at the advanced level, they were mostly used to Jennifer's teaching style. Vera was willing to bet that Jennifer had never asked them about gossip. She remembered Pernilla and Whitney from their younger years. Back then, their main interests had been boys, gossip and stupid reality tv. Nothing much seemed to have changed.

"Well," Pernilla started. "There was a rumor about some nude images of Paula Fenner being circulated around the station."

"That's terrible!"

"But!" Whitney added. "It turned out to be pictures of some model with Fenner's face edited on to them."

"Still," Vera said. "Don't let me catch any of you participating in any kind of stuff like that."

"Honestly, Mrs. Vega," Pernilla said, "do you want to hear gossip or not?"

Vera nodded. "Don't you ever gossip about nice things?"

Pernilla shrugged. "That was pretty nice, actually. Unfortunately, I never saw the images, but they were flattering, allegedly."

"But fake," Whitney reminded everyone. "I knew she didn't have tattoos down there."

"Next topic!" Vera requested.

Pernilla and Whitney looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Luke Cameron cheated on his wife," Whitney revealed.

"And who the hell is Luke Cameron?"

"Well, he was the hot one in Neutron Star. The one who used to date…"

"Next topic!" Vera interrupted, regretting that she had asked in the first place.

"Luna Magnus has started a relationship with one of the lieutenants on the Normandy," Pernilla said.

Vera was silent for a second and then started laughing.

"Are you bullshitting me, White?"

Pernilla shrugged. "That's what people are saying."

Vera noticed how Lawrence Madison at the neighboring table had leaned a little closer to listen into their conversation.

"And how, pray tell, would anyone here on the station know anything about what Luna is doing on the Normandy?"

Again, Pernilla shrugged. "It might just be a rumor."

"It's definitely a rumor. Besides, Luna just recently turned 18."

"Didn't you meet your husband, who was then a lieutenant, on the Normandy when you were at our age?" Whitney asked.

Vera was silenced. That was true. But there was still no way that anyone on the station could know anything about what happened on the Normandy. Particularly not something of such a personal nature.

"It almost sounds like this rumor was designed with me in mind, huh?" she said.

"Almost," Pernilla said before the two girls started laughing loudly.

"Okay… Okay… Sorry, Mrs. Vega. That last one was a joke," Whitney said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

Vera laughed along with the girls. At the next table, Lawrence seemed to start breathing normally again.

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

Jennifer exited the ladies' bathroom and almost collided with Adina who was pacing back and forth.

"Holding something in?" Jennifer asked jokingly, keeping the bathroom door open.

Adina did not answer, but continued to walk from one side of the ship to the other.

"I'm sure Kurt is fine," Jennifer assured her. "He's surprisingly good at staying alive."

Adina gave her a bit of a salty look.

"I know," she eventually responded. "But let's be honest, with the missiles gone and everything, why would they keep him alive?"

Jennifer nodded understandingly. "He's talked himself out of many tough situations in the past though."

"He's talked himself into just as many, I think," Adina replied with a brief smirk.

Jennifer smiled back at her.

"We'll save him," she said. "We will."

At the table by the kitchen, Jennifer found Luna, who was talking to Corporal Raven Crow and snacking on a bowl of nuts.

"…so your school allows the students to drink alcohol?" Raven asked.

Luna nodded. "If you're old enough, and it doesn't affect your performance. Actually, prom should be coming up soon."

"Oooh, exciting!" Raven said, wafting a strand of her short blonde hair away from her face. "So, do you have a date? I'm sure you've had plenty of offers."

Luna laughed embarrassedly. "There have been a few."

"But not the right one yet? You'll get a good one for sure!"

"Ha," Luna laughed again. "I've been away for a while now, so all the best ones are probably taken."

Jennifer grabbed a handful of nuts from the table and took a seat. According to Joker, they were catching up with the signal from Kurt's boot. It would not be long before they needed to get ready.

"Will you two be okay being away from each other?" she asked the two young women, who seemed to have become good friends.

Luna nodded. "We have agreed to exchange contact information."

"Very cute," Jennifer said, putting her feet up on the table and throwing a few nuts into her mouth.

Luna and Raven looked at her and shook their heads.

"I think EDI would prefer it if you took your feet off her table, Mrs. Magnus," Raven carefully said.

 _"Correct,"_ EDI confirmed. _"But I've long since given up on trying to make a civilized human out of Jennifer."_

Jennifer made finger guns at the camera in the corner of the room. "That's right."

They were all called to the conference room a few minutes later, when Joker reported that Kurt's signal had stopped moving.

"They're at Limbo" Prangley informed, once everybody was in the room.

"Limbo?" Luna asked.

"Imagine a cheap knockoff version of Omega," Adina said, making it very clear that she was not particularly impressed with Limbo's attempt at being like her homeplace.

"Filled with scumbags," James added. "We should be careful."

Jennifer knew about Limbo. In her teenage years, back when she was a criminal herself, Limbo had not been much more than a small trading station on some random moon not too far from Omega. She had been there just once before. It attracted the same sort of degenerates that inhabited and did business on Omega. In fact, Limbo seemed to exist primarily so that criminals, who had somehow gotten on Aria's bad side, would have a place to go. Jennifer had not been to Limbo in almost 30 years, but it did not sound like it had changed much.

 _"Entering orbit above Limbo,"_ Joker informed from the bridge. _"Wait, there's another ship blocking our path."_

"Tell them to get the fuck out of our way, or we'll shoot them down," Prangley said. "Alliance authority."

 _"Incoming communication,"_ EDI said.

"Put it on," Prangley said.

From the speakers of the Normandy, a female voice addressed the crew.

 _"SSV Normandy, this is Omega Alpha. Do not fire! I repeat, do NOT fire!"_

Adina jumped out of her chair. "That's my…"

 _"Humans!"_ a very familiar voice interrupted. _"Don't make me kill you!"_

"…sister's ship," Adina finished.

 _"Adina?"_ Aria said.

"Yes, Aria. It's me."

 _"What have you gotten yourself into this time? I'm telling you, however much you like that idiot's cock, it's not worth all of this."_

Adina smiled, and Luna giggled.

Aria then explained how her people had caught the signal from the fleeing Coalition ship and decided to help save Kurt. A few minutes later, the Normandy and Omega Alpha landed next to each other just outside of the Limbo compound.

Jennifer jumped off the Normandy with the rest of the ground crew and watched as Aria lazily strolled down the ramp of Omega Alpha, followed by a dozen extremely well-equipped krogan and asari commandos. While Aria was wearing a tight-fitting black leather suit, her commandos were in blood-red battle gear with an 'O', for Omega, on the chest.

It was dark, and steam was coming out of both the Normandy and Omega Alpha, making it hard to see much, but even if she had been completely blinded, Jennifer would have been able to recognize Aria. She knew the asari well enough to even recognize her perfume.

Aria stopped in front of the Normandy crew and her people formed a neat line behind her. Jennifer crossed her arms, looking at her old rival. She and Aria had met for the first time when Jennifer was just 15 years old. She had punched Aria in the face, and Aria had almost killed her. Since then their relationship had been a strange one. They certainly were not friends, but not exactly enemies either. Seeing Aria now, Jennifer was a little annoyed that the asari did not seem to have aged a day since their first meeting.

"You owe me a crew, Vega," Aria said, addressing James first.

She was of course referring to the crew that had been killed on the Romford, but Jennifer was not at all convinced that Aria cared about her employees who had lost their lives.

"And Jack… Sorry, Jennifer…" Aria continued, pretending that she had not said her old name on purpose, "how is teaching life? Action-packed, I'm sure, no?"

Jennifer scowled back at the smirking asari.

"Oh, and you've brought one of your cubs, or whatever you humans call them," Aria said, stopping in front of Luna, who stood frozen, while Aria ran her hand through her dark red hair with a predatorial smile. "Pretty, I guess."

Luna smiled cautiously, as Aria turned to her sister. "Hey."

"Why are you here, Aria?" Adina asked. "I'm starting to think you actually like Kurt."

"Bah," Aria said, yawning arrogantly, "I'm here to kill some humans, and Limbo has been due for a clean-up for a while."

"Sure," Adina said. "And Kurt?"

"Well, I guess we can save your sex toy too, if we have the time…"

There was something in Aria's behavior that made Jennifer think that the queen of Omega actually _did_ like Kurt more than she was willing to admit. It was hard to tell though. Famously, Aria was almost impossible to read, but Jennifer knew her better than most, having been on the receiving end of her lies, threats and insults more than anyone.

Jennifer noticed that Charles had taken her hand in his, probably to make sure that she did not overreact to Aria's provocations. She gave it a little squeeze to let him know that she was calm.

Meanwhile, Aria was breathing in the air, which was cold and clean, a sharp contrast to the warm, dust-filled, slightly sweet-smelling air of Omega.

"Not bad," Aria said to herself, nodding appreciatively.

Adina impatiently crossed her arms. "Can we get this shit started?"

"Relax, Adi, we'll have your human back in no time!" Aria replied.

Aria gave a sharp whistle, and her red-clad fighters stood at attention. The queen of Omega had a reputation of being chaotic and utterly unpredictable, but her fighters seemed to be as disciplined and organized as any squad that Jennifer had ever seen. The krogan and asari warriors formed two neat, perfectly straight lines. At the sound of Aria's whistle they had all moved in perfect synchronicity, and they were now completely still, awaiting Aria's orders.

"Kurt first, then, maybe, you can start thinking about taking over Limbo," Adina said to her older sister with a firm hold of her arm. It was not a question.

Aria shrugged. "Fine."

Prangley called EDI forward to locate Kurt's signal from within the limbo compound. According to the AI, Kurt had been moved to an underground warehouse.

"The Coalition will attack us on sight, but what about the rest of the locals?" James asked.

"My presence here will either scare them shitless or make them want to kill us all," Aria said. "I don't have many friends here."

"We might be able to use that," EDI suggested. "If Aria can attract attention, we would have a much clearer path to Kurt."

"And what makes you think that I'm cool with being a decoy, metal lady?" Aria asked.

"I thought you were mostly here to clean up Limbo anyway?" EDI responded sharply.

Aria smirked. "The ridiculously busty robot makes a good point. If we attack them head on, you can flank around and save Nielsen."

"So we would be helping you attack a rival criminal organization?" James asked, sounding rather skeptical about the whole thing.

"And I would be helping you save your friend," Aria replied. "Seems only fair."

James and Prangley looked at each other and then nodded reluctantly.

After her little stunt back at the old Cerberus base, Jennifer and Charles had agreed to keep Luna on a tighter leash. Therefore, Charles, Jennifer and Luna would form a team, while Prangley, James, Adina and EDI made up the other rescue team.

Jennifer looked towards Limbo. The compound had no walls, so she could see hundreds of moving lights in between the buildings. Obviously, they would have noticed two frigates landing just outside the compound. It would only be a minute or two before they switched on the floodlights and sent out a welcoming committee. A moment later, the distant noise of an alarm was heard.

"That's my cue," Aria said, smiling triumphantly before the battle had even begun. As she began to march towards Limbo, she was immediately followed by her crew.

Prangley looked towards Jennifer.

"We go low, you go high?"

She smiled at Charles and Luna and nodded back at Prangley.

"We'll go high," she confirmed.

-X-X-X-

 **800 meters above Limbo**

Luna looked down at the lights far below her. Aria had begun her attack, and flashes of gunfire and explosions were glowing brightly against the dark ground. The night air was cold, particularly at this altitude, but that wasn't the only reason why Luna was shivering.

It wasn't that she was particularly afraid of heights, but hanging freely in the air, held up only by her mother's biotic field, was not exactly relaxing.

"Want to go higher?" her mother asked. "It's a bit cold at this altitude, but I bet we could go higher."

Her father just shook his head, holding out his hand to control the gravity field surrounding his own body.

Obviously, Luna was aware that biotics could manipulate gravity, and she was very good at doing it herself. She just hadn't mastered doing it on herself yet, but her parents were among the best human biotics at it.

It wasn't like they could use their biotics to actually fly through the air like Superman, but they could control altitude and, by performing biotic charges, propel themselves forward at incredible speeds.

Luna looked down again, it was terrifying. She would have preferred it if she could have been controlling her own altitude instead of relying on her mother.

"Want to try yourself," her mother asked. "It's not that different from making other objects float."

Luna nodded, held out her arms as if they were wings, and concentrated hard on her mass and the air around her body.

She slowly felt the influence of her mother releasing her, subjecting her to gravity. Luna felt how she was holding more and more of her own weight, until she suddenly dropped.

"Fuuuuuuuuuck!" she screamed, until she was caught in another biotic field created by her mother and decelerated.

Panting, Luna looked up at her parents, who were floating down towards her.

"Maybe we'll practice some other time, eh?" Jennifer said, chuckling at the terrified expression on Luna's face.

Far below them there was a particularly loud explosion. It looked like Aria was pushing far into the compound.

"Is she really a criminal?" Luna asked.

She was not sure how to feel about the fact that they were working with Aria to attack other a rival gang, or whatever the relationship was between Omega and Limbo.

"It's complicated," her mother said.

"Like your relationship with her?"

Jennifer laughed. "No, that shit is even more complicated."

Luna was mostly familiar with Adina, who was no doubt a bit of an odd character, but Aria seemed much more extreme.

"Is she evil?" Luna asked.

Her mother shook her head. "She's harmless."

"Most definitely not harmless," Charles corrected. "Somewhere between mischievous and dangerous."

Luna cocked her eyebrow. "But not evil?"

"Not towards us," her father sighed, sounding confused about Aria himself. "Not evil in a traditional sense, and not friendly either."

There had to be some good in Aria, Luna was convinced. She didn't believe that Aria had come to Limbo just to wage war against her enemies. She had come to help save Kurt, or at least to assist her sister.

Since Aria had now pushed into Limbo, Prangley and his team had probably reached the compound too. The plan was for his team to sneak from building to building and try to stay hidden while looking for an entrance to the underground warehouse where Kurt's signal was coming from. While Prangley's team searched through Limbo, Luna and her parents were on standby, ready to provide support from above.

But it was not Prangley who needed them first.

 _"Jennifer, Aria needs your help,"_ EDI's voice announced through Luna's earpiece.

"Then why hasn't she said anything?" Jennifer replied.

 _"Pride,"_ was EDI's simple answer. _"Most of her squad is down. She asked us to help, but we are going after Kurt."_

Luna looked at her mother, who was staring blankly out into the air. There was another loud explosion from below, and Luna felt her mother's gravity field starting to weaken.

"HEY!" she called, and Jennifer remembered that she was supposed to concentrate on keeping her daughter in the air as well.

For a second, Luna thought that her mother would be tempted to leave Aria to her fate. But then Jennifer started laughing uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" Charles asked.

"She's going to be so mad," Jennifer said, laughing so hard that she nearly dropped Luna again. "She's going to hate it so much! Let's go!"

Then, without warning, the gravity field keeping Luna stable in the air was gone, and she started plummeting to the ground.

"YOU CRAZY FUCKING MANIAC, MOM!" Luna screamed, as the wind rushed into her face, making it hard for her to keep her eyes open.

Next to her, her mother was also in freefall, still smirking.

As the surface came closer and closer, Luna's tried to slow herself down, but she was too scared to concentrate enough. Luckily, her mother caught her in another gravity field and slowed her down just enough to land safely on the roof of a tall building. Jennifer landed softly by her side, but Charles slammed to the ground in a kneeling position and slowly stood up like something out of a superhero movie.

"Showoff!" Jennifer sighed.

Down on the street, Aria and the remaining members of her squad were bravely holding off several platoons of what looked like a mix of Limbo locals and Coalition troops in their black uniforms.

"You two stay up here and provide support," Jennifer said. "I'm going down there!"

Before Luna or Charles could say anything, Jennifer jumped over the side of the building and landed right in front of Aria.

-X-X-X-

 **Limbo**

Prangley quickly stepped back into an alley, as a few of the local pirates came running by, either running away from or towards Aria. So far, his team remained hidden, and he preferred to keep it that way.

"How did Aria get herself into such deep shit?" James asked, leaning against a wall, idly playing with the safety on his assault rifle.

"Arrogance," was Adina's best guess.

"And you are okay with us not turning around to help her?" Prangley asked.

Adina nodded. "Kurt needs us more than she does. Besides, I'm sure that Jennifer will do absolutely anything to save my sister's ass."

EDI peeked out of the alley. "Coast is clear now," she said, and Prangley took his team across the street and into a building on the other side.

The building appeared empty, but Prangley was mostly interested in the stairway anyway.

"Shit!" he cursed. "It only goes up! Are we sure the signal is coming from underground?"

EDI nodded and pointed towards a sign above a hallway to their left. "Elevator," she said. "500 credits says I can hack it."

"Don't take that bet!" James, EDI's former commanding officer, advised.

They ran down the hallway and located the elevator, which, to no one's surprise, EDI was able to hack within a matter of seconds. But just as Prangley were about to call the elevator to their floor, there was a loud 'ding' and the door opened.

Almost naked and smeared in blood, Kurt stumbled out of the elevator and straight into James' arms.

"Kurt!" Adina gasped, as Kurt collapsed against James' broad chest.

"Vega," Kurt mumbled, sounding completely exhausted, reading from the name tag on James' chest through half-lidded eyes. "That was a shitty plan…"

James, who was holding up most of Kurt's body weight, nodded. Kurt letting himself get captured by the Coalition had not been his brightest idea, and he was clearly not proud of having gone along with it.

Adina was quick to rush to Kurt's side. Carefully, she tilted back his head to get a good look at his eyes.

"Hey, Princess," Kurt croaked, as his trademark grin flashed briefly across his face, until it was too painful for him to maintain. "Don't worry, most of the blood isn't mine."

"Most of it?"

Adina wiped away some of the blood from beneath Kurt's ear, and gasped, as more blood started flowing, rather quickly, from his ear.

"That's probably mine though…" Kurt managed to get out before he passed out.

James lifted up Kurt. "He will be okay! He will be okay!"

Adina, who Prangley had never seen as distressed as now, nodded furiously, trying to feel Kurt's pulse.

"We need to exfil immediately!" Prangley said, contacting the Normandy.

 _"Yes, Commander,"_ Joker responded. _"EDI has called me in already. There's a big open square in the middle of the compound, if you get there, I can land in the middle of Limbo!"_

"We'll make it!" Prangley said. "Get Doctor Roda ready! Something's wrong with Kurt!"

Raising his assault rifle, Prangley turned around and guided the team back out of the building. As he moved quickly towards the front door, he saw movement on the street outside. Holding up a fist, he crouched next to the door, peeking out in the street, while the rest of the team hurried into cover behind him.

"The prisoner has escaped!" someone shouted from the darkness outside.

Prangley looked back over his shoulder. Kurt was still hanging limply in James' arms.

A sharp spotlight was pointed at the door, and Prangley made sure that no part of his body was visible from outside.

"Grenades!" someone shouted, and four beeping high explosive grenades started flying through the open door.

"Adina!" Prangley shouted and caught two of the grenades in a biotic field, throwing them back out the door.

Simultaneously, Adina trapped the remaining two grenades and sent them flying back outside as well. Moments later, a thundering explosion rattled the wall they were leaning against. Taking advantage of the moment, Prangley rolled out of cover, pushing through the open door, followed closely by EDI and Adina. A few surviving Coalition soldiers opened fire, but Prangley furiously responded. Adina, angered by the state of her lover, tore into the soldiers who had survived the explosion, smashing them into walls and throwing them high into the air with her biotics. Prangley turned to help James with Kurt, while EDI covered Adina.

"That way!" he said and pointed James down a narrow street. He then activated his radio and called Jennifer and Aria.

-X-X-X-

 **Another place in Limbo**

Jennifer landed right in front of Aria and straightened herself up with her arms outstretched, forming a strong barrier between Aria and the mix of locals and Coalition soldiers that were trying to kill her.

Smirking, she looked over her shoulder at Aria, who was panting and scowling furiously back at her. As Jennifer had hoped, the fact that she had just saved Aria seemed to piss off the asari to no end.

"Having trouble?" Jennifer asked, just to rub it in.

"Piss off, bitch," Aria said, marching forward to stand beside her.

Jennifer looked at the remaining members of Aria's team. They looked too wounded to continue the fight.

"Looks like you won't be taking Limbo today," she said, while her barrier soaked up the incoming fire.

Aria looked like she was about to disagree for a moment.

"No," she finally admitted.

"But let's at least kill these motherfuckers," Jennifer said, causing Aria to smile wickedly.

Having counted down from three, Jennifer dropped her barrier before she and Aria advanced on their enemy, side by side.

As the bullets whipped by them, Aria biotically pulled a group of Limbo locals out of their cover, and Jennifer threw them onto the roof where she knew that Charles and Luna would take care of them.

"More coming out of the alley!" she shouted, and Aria blasted them back from where they came. A powerful shockwave from Jennifer ensured that they would not be coming back out.

While Jennifer was concentrating on a group of Coalition soldiers trying to kill the survivors from Aria's squad, the locals were surrounding Aria. When Jennifer eventually turned around, she saw that Luna and Charles had jumped off the roof and were helping Aria with the locals.

"Get back to your ship!" Jennifer said to the surviving members of Aria's Omega squad. They did not seem to hear her at all. They only responded to Aria, no one else.

Realizing that she could not waste time on Aria's goons, Jennifer returned to the fight, which Luna and Charles were now in the middle of.

She proudly watched as her daughter ducked out of the way of flying shrapnel, deflected a hailstorm of bullets and jumped to her feet with a concentrated look in her eyes.

A local man tried to stab Luna in the back with a long knife, but Aria came to her rescue, biotically punching the man's head so hard that it practically exploded.

"Jennifer!" Charles shouted, alerting her to the fact that she should probably pay attention to her own safety.

She reacted just in time to detonate her husband's singularity, killing a handful of Coalition soldiers that had been about to launch RPGs at her.

Jennifer ran over to Charles, Luna and Aria and helped them take out the last of the locals.

"Go, Aria!" Jennifer shouted. "Take the rest of your people and go!"

Aria looked around at the destruction they had caused. Then she shook her head.

"I can't let them keep an employee of mine," Aria hissed with a determined look on her face. "It would not look good."

"Prangley will save Kurt," Charles assured her.

"And they will keep your sister safe!" Luna added.

Aria rolled her eyes, trying to convince them that she was much more concerned with her image as Queen of Omega than the safety of Adina and especially Kurt.

"Just go!" Jennifer repeated.

"Oh, fuck off! I'll leave when I have my sister!"

Charles pointed to the few surviving commandos, who were now limping towards them, badly injured and with dirt all over their blood-red armor. "At least let them take your ship! You can come with us on the Normandy!"

Jennifer could see that Aria was not at all comfortable with this idea. She hated losing, and if she had to admit defeat in her attempt to take over Limbo, she would probably have preferred it if none of her commandos survived to tell the tale. She didn't need them spreading stories about how she had failed to take Limbo. To make things worse for Aria, she had already been saved by Jennifer, and now Charles was asking her to accept a ride on the Normandy, like a common hitchhiker.

Aria groaned angrily, turned and marched towards her wounded commandos.

"You incompetent morons! Take the Alpha home, if you think you can manage a simple task like that!"

"Geez," Jennifer said to Charles and Luna, while Aria continued to verbally abuse her employees. "That type of boss, huh?"

"…Lucky bastards! If you are happy to be alive now, which I wouldn't necessarily be if I were you, just wait until I get back to Omega! I might kill every single one of you myself! No get the fuck out of my sight!"

Aria spun around to face Jennifer and her family again, while her commandos hurried out of Limbo towards Omega Alpha as fast as their injuries allowed.

 _"Mission update…"_ Prangley's voice said over the radio, preventing Jennifer from making the joke she had intended to make about Aria's leadership style.

"Come in, Prangley!" she said instead.

 _"We have Kurt. He is alive but unconscious. The Normandy will be landing in the big central square for emergency exfil. You have two minutes! Haul ass!"_

"Got it!" Jennifer said, as they all started running towards the middle of the Limbo compound.

They turned right down a narrow street and almost ran straight into a small squad of Coalition soldiers. Without slowing down, Jennifer biotically punched her way through them, aided by Charles and Luna, while Aria carelessly gunned down the soldiers with her pistol.

 _"Be advised; hostiles are still active within Limbo,"_ EDI informed them. Jennifer could hear gunfire both on the radio and echoing through the streets.

"You don't say!" she panted, using a warp field to detonate a shuttle fueling station behind them to help cover their escape.

"Come on!" Charles shouted to Luna, who slowed down to look back at the massive explosion. "We have to make that pick-up!"

It was a mad dash, running through the streets towards the center of Limbo. Locals and Coalition soldiers who got in their way quickly regretted, as Jennifer, Charles, Luna and Aria blasted their way through them.

Turning around a corner, Charles almost ran straight into a group of locals who were waiting with their weapons drawn. He stopped.

"We haven't got time for this!" Jennifer shouted, as the Normandy came zooming in over the rooftops and landed somewhere closer to the center of Limbo.

She sent the locals flying down the street with a shockwave and shoved Charles forward. "Go!"

Soon, they entered a large open square. In the middle, the Normandy had landed, and they arrived just in time to see James carrying Kurt up the ramp to the shuttle bay, followed closely by Adina. At the foot of the ramp, Prangley, EDI and Corporal Raven Crow were holding off the enemies that poured into the square from every direction, trying to reach the Normandy.

"Good to see you!" Prangley shouted over the gunfire, as they joined the group defending the ship.

"Yeah," Raven said, crouching as she reloaded her assault rifle. "You're just in time! Let's get out of here!"

"Go!" Prangley said, and they all backed up the ramp, which EDI quickly closed.

From the safety of the shuttle bay, they could still hear gunfire hitting the hull of the ship.

"Don't worry," EDI said. "It's going to take more than that!"

"Nevertheless," Prangley said, "tell Joker to get us out of here."

They took a few moments to catch their breath before entering the elevator.

"Good to see you getting in on the action," Luna said to Raven, as they rode up to the bridge.

The corporal winked back at Luna, patting her assault rifle lovingly. "I didn't practice so much with this for nothing."

When the elevator doors opened, they all walked through the CIC to the bridge, where Joker was in the process of taking off. EDI jumped into the co-pilot's seat.

"This thing has bombs, right?" Aria said, as the Normandy began to hover over Limbo.

"No, Aria, we are not bombing the city," Prangley said.

"Why the fuck not?" Aria said. "You saw what they are like down there!"

"They are scum!" Jennifer agreed. "But not much worse than most pieces of shit on Omega that call you queen."

Aria crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "How cute! You think that insulting the people I rule will offend me?"

"We are not bombing Limbo!" Prangley said. "Look at all those buildings. Who knows how many innocent people are in there?"

Aria sighed. "Fine!"

Then James arrived from the med bay. He was sweating, and he had blood on his hands and his chest.

"Adina is down there with him," he said. "Doctor Roda has asked that we give him some peace while he works on Kurt. He will let EDI know when we can see him."

"Is he going to be okay?" Luna asked.

James shrugged. "I'm not sure what is wrong with him. He was covered in blood, but he does not appear to be hurt that badly."

"I wonder what happened to him," Luna sighed worriedly.

-X-X-X-

 **Limbo – A few hours earlier**

Kurt was cold. Extremely cold. His captors had removed most of his clothes and thrown him into the holding cell of a shuttle. All they had let him keep was his underpants. He was lying on the cold, hard metal floor, shaking involuntarily for most of the ride. He did not know how long he had been in the shuttle's cell, but it felt like days.

He had not seen a single person since he had been thrown into this shuttle. Someone had been attacking the compound. He had heard gunfire, and then his captors escaped with him on the shuttle.

As he lay on the floor, which felt burning cold against his naked skin, he was contemplating his situation.

He had watched the SSV Romford explode on the screen. James and Adina were dead. It was his fault. He was the one who had suggested that he should let himself get captured. The plan had gone horribly wrong! And now his friend and the love of his life were dead. It was his fault!

Why his captors had not killed him yet, he did not know. The cold and, in particular, the feeling of guilt made him wish that they would just do it already.

He barely felt it when the shuttle landed, but he could not ignore it when someone pulled him to his feet and pressed his face against the wall which was just as cold and hard as the floor. His hands were bound on his back, and there was nothing he could do.

"Get up, traitor!" a man growled.

Then he let go of Kurt, whose joints and muscles were too cold to keep him upright, and he fell to the floor again. Groaning, he looked up at the man standing over him. He was wearing all black like the others, but there were some bars on his shoulders, similar to what you would see on an Alliance uniform. This man was an officer.

"You are pathetic!" the officer said. "Betrayer of your own species!"

Kurt said nothing, but glared at the man, who chuckled.

"They say you are fucking the T'Loak whore…" he continued. "Aria's sister… That won't make you very popular here."

"Where?" Kurt asked. His cold jaw ached when he tried to use it.

"We are in Limbo. The locals here have heard that we have caught ourselves an Omega rat. They are outside right now, ready to give you a warm welcome!"

Kurt had of course heard of Limbo, but, as an employee of Aria T'Loak, he had obviously never been there before. He swallowed. This was not going to be pleasant.

"You and I both know that your blue whore is not coming to save you," the man whispered.

"Fuck you, you racist cunt!" Kurt said, spitting up at the officer.

He knew that the man was trying to provoke him, but Kurt would not allow him to insult Adina like that unpunished. He wished that his biotic amp had not been deactivated, or he would have made the officer pay for talking about Adina like that.

The officer pulled Kurt to his feet again and slammed him into the ground. Unable to use his hands, which were bound behind his back, to break his fall, Kurt met the floor with his head.

With his ears still ringing, he was pulled up again and dragged out of the cell. The officer then opened the shuttle's side door and threw him out. Kurt landed face first on the street and shook his head as he sat up. All around him stood Limbo locals, looking down at him, either laughing at him or growling with contempt. These were killers, pirates, drug dealers, slavers and terrorists. They were dangerous people. They hated Omega and Aria more than anything else, and Kurt was sure that they were going to kill him immediately. This was how he was going to die. Beaten to death with his hands bound behind his back.

"Piece of shit!" someone shouted.

Kurt tried to get up, but his frozen muscles failed him, and he fell over once again to the amusement of the crowd.

"Just kill him!" another person in the crowd shouted. "Omega scum!"

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!" the crow chanted, moving closer and closer until they were stopped by armed soldiers in black.

"Soon!" the officer said, jumping out of the shuttle. "Let's see what we can learn from him first!"

"Kill him! Kill him!" the crowd continued to demand, as Kurt looked up into the sky. It was dusk. He hoped that someone would fly down through the clouds to rescue him.

"This man is an enemy of Limbo and of our cause! He and his friends have been getting in the way of our plans, and with his help, we will have our revenge!"

The crowd cheered, although many seemed to be of the mindset that Kurt should be killed immediately.

The officer clicked his fingers, and two soldiers pulled Kurt to his feet. "They are right, you know," he whispered in Kurt's ear. You will die here. Soon."

Then the two soldiers dragged Kurt into a large building. They took an elevator down several floors and walked down a hallway.

"Put him in the interrogation chamber," the officer said, and the soldiers placed Kurt on a chair in a small, dark room.

The name of the room and what the officer had said outside made Kurt wish he was dead again. They were going to torture him of course. That was the only reason he was still alive. He did not know what information they could possibly want from him though.

The two soldiers left the room, leaving Kurt alone with the officer, who sat down on a chair directly across from Kurt.

"You know," he said. "I have never understood your type. How can a human betray his race?"

Kurt shook his head. "You truly don't understand! Don't you remember the reaper war? We won! Because all the races came together."

"Oh, I remember," the officer said. "Commander Shepard, a human, defeated the reapers."

Kurt could not believe what he was hearing.

"The commander would never have supported your cause!"

The officer smirked.

"Shepard is dead. And soon… so are you."

He then left the room and locked the door, leaving Kurt alone in the darkness.

Kurt looked around the room. Since he was far below ground level, there were obviously no windows. In fact, there was absolutely nothing in the room except for the two facing chairs and a table in the corner.

Kurt's teeth were still chattering from the cold, so he stood up and started to walk around in circles in an attempt to get his blood flowing.

He would be dead soon. That much was clear. The only people who had known where he was had been on the SSV Romford when it was destroyed. His only hope now was that the people who had been attacking the compound when he was evacuated would come to Limbo for him. But that did not seem very likely. His usual optimism was gone.

He sat down on the chair again, and the only thing he could really feel was the feeling of guilt. This, getting captured, had been his plan, and he had gotten James and Adina killed. He thought of Vera, his best friend, and her children. He was responsible for the death of their father. Maybe it would be best if he just died too.

As Kurt was thinking about his imminent death, the officer returned with another soldier in black, carrying Kurt's clothes and boots.

"See if you can find anything useful!" the officer ordered, and the soldier began going through Kurt's stuff on the table in the corner.

The officer turned to Kurt and sat down in front of him again.

"You'll be dead soon, so I can tell you this now… You and I have actually met before."

Kurt, who did not recognize this man, looked back at him.

"It's true," the officer continued. "I was in Cerberus."

Kurt curled both hands into fists behind his back. He should have known. How did Cerberus always end up involved in everything bad that ever happened. Now, apparently, they were back, fighting for human dominance.

"Now," the officer continued. "I represent New Cerberus."

"You can't seriously think that Cerberus' mistakes should be repeated!" Kurt said.

The officer stood up with an evil smirk on his face. Then he shrugged. "The Illusive Man went mad during the reaper war. We all know that. But his initial ideas and intentions were pure."

"You are just as mad as him!" Kurt said.

The officer ignored him and turned to the soldier going through Kurt's things. "Found anything?"

"Just this," the soldier said. "It's an Omega ID card."

The officer took the small plastic card, read the text and handed it back to the soldier. "Hang on to that for now. If our Limbo friends can use it to infiltrate Omega, they would pay us a good price for that."

Then the two left Kurt alone in the room again, and he immediately stood up and walked over to the table where his things still were. He bent down and used his head to flip over his left boot. Underneath the sole he located the tiny transmitter that James had placed on him. It had not fallen off, and it had not been destroyed. If it was still working, perhaps there was a chance that someone could use the signal to find him. But that was assuming that anyone was looking for him.

Kurt had no way of knowing, but he had a feeling about the people who had attacked the compound before he was thrown into the shuttle and flown to Limbo. There was a chance, a small one, but a chance that they had attacked the compound to rescue him. And if they had, Kurt had a good idea who they were. And if he was correct, they would have a super intelligent AI, more than capable of tracing the signal from Kurt's boot. It seemed like a long shot, but it was the only thought that brought Kurt a little bit of hope.

He heard footsteps on the hallway outside the interrogation chamber, so he quickly flipped the boot back to its original position and hurried back to his chair to avoid raising suspicion.

Moments later, the officer returned, alone this time. Kurt decided that he would at least try to stall him, if someone was coming for him, he might as well try to stay alive for as long as possible.

"You said that we have met before," Kurt said. "Where?"

The man chose to remain standing this time. "The Citadel," he said. "Do you remember? Kai Leng killed your lizard friend's father – the assassin, Krios."

Kurt nodded. He remembered how Cerberus had tried to take over the Citadel in the middle of the reaper war. He remembered how Thane had died, and how Kolyat had joined the Psychotic Biotics.

"I was there. I saw you. Cute little kids running around playing cops and robbers in the middle of a war," the officer said, laughing with disdain.

Kurt looked up at him. "You saw us?"

The officer nodded. "My brother was killed that day, by C-Sec. I was shot, but I survived."

"What a shame..."

The officer took a deep breath, as if to calm himself. Then, without warning, he kicked Kurt hard in the stomach. Kurt tipped back on the chair and hit the back of his head on the floor. He gasped for air and curled up into a ball, expecting another kick.

"I bet you wish you could use your powers right now, huh, Blondie?" the officer asked, looming over him with a sadistic smile on his face.

He was right. Kurt really wanted to use his biotics right now, but that was not an option without his amp.

"Just kill me," he said instead, still coughing and gasping for air.

The officer chuckled. "How pathetic!"

"Please," Kurt begged.

"It's going to be a long night for you," the officer promised, and flipped Kurt's chair back up. "Now, take a seat, and I will be back soon to figure out, how you can help us. If you cooperate, I might give you a quick death."

The officer exited the interrogation chamber, and Kurt attempted to get up off the floor. It was difficult with his hands behind his back and such stiff leg muscles. Eventually, he managed to get up, and he sat down on the chair again.

When the officer returned next time, it would be to torture Kurt. That much was clear. Kurt was not quite sure what kind of information they wanted from him. But he had knowledge about Omega, the Citadel and personal information about his friends that he was not willing to give up. Time for action had come.

Behind his back, Kurt began twisting and turning his hands to get out of his binds. If he could have used his biotics it would have been easy. Even though Kurt was working on freeing his hands for a long time, he did not seem to make any progress at all.

"Come on…" he whispered, twisting his wrist to the point where it felt like he was about to damage the joint. "Come on!"

Then he heard a noise from somewhere far above him. It sounded like gunfire and explosion. Then he heard footsteps and shouting on the hallway outside the interrogation chamber. He stopped trying to free his hands and listened intently to the noises from upstairs and outside the room.

Then the door to the interrogation chamber opened, and the officer stepped in, holding a shotgun aimed directly at Kurt's head. Staring straight down the barrel of the shotgun, Kurt jumped to his feet and backed further into the room.

"Aria is attacking Limbo," the officer hissed. "There is no way that cold bitch is here to save your sorry ass!"

"Maybe it's a coincidence," Kurt said, talking quickly. "You know things are tense between Omega and Limbo…"

"Bullshit!" the officer said, taking a step closer. "Aria's attack must be a decoy… Someone is here for you!"

"Lovely…" Kurt said, but closed his mouth immediately when the officer loaded the shotgun with a loud pumping noise.

"They will be to late!" the officer said, and Kurt saw his finger starting to squeeze the trigger.

He yanked hard on his hands and managed to break free. With his arms outstretched in front of him, he formed a biotic barrier just in time to save his life. However, it felt like someone had electrocuted his brain, and he stumbled backward, screaming in pain.

Kurt looked up, and the officer was still aiming his shotgun at him.

He could barely keep his balance, the room was swimming in front of his eyes, and while his brain felt like it was on fire, the rest of his body felt strangely numb. Still, as the officer prepared to fire again, Kurt threw himself forward, knocking the shotgun aside just in time to avoid getting hit. The weapon went off right next to his ear, deafening him, as he tackled the officer to the ground and landed on top of him.

Thinking of Adina, he drove his fist into the officer's face. He punched, again and again and again. Harder and harder. He lost control and although his head was already hurting, he unconsciously added biotic power to his punches. Blood sprayed all over the floor and covered Kurt's naked skin as he continued to drive his fists into the officer, who had been dead for a while.

"Arghhh!" Kurt shouted, collapsing on top of the officer's body.

He was exhausted, and his brain felt like it was about to shut down completely. As he lay there on top of the officer's body, he was not sure if he actually passed out or not, but he eventually managed to open his eyes. Through the ringing in his ears, he could still hear the occasional explosion from upstairs.

Groaning, he rolled to the side and off the officer's body, right into a growing pool of blood on the floor. He tried to stand up, but he was dizzy, and landed back in the blood pool. He crawled over to the open door and used the doorframe to get to his feet. His knees were shaking, and he felt like his brain was going to shut down. Holding on to the doorframe with one hand, he held the other hand up in front of his face. He could hardly see well enough to tell the individual fingers apart, but he could tell that his hand was completely red, covered in blood, and shaking violently.

Then a sharp pain in his head almost made him fall over, but he managed to lean against the doorframe. As he stood there, trying to remain on his feet, the gunfire and explosions above him continued. He remembered what the officer had said. Aria was here.

Fighting against his brain to stay awake, Kurt moved out into the hallway and started slowly stumbling towards the elevator. Behind him, he left bloody footprints on the floor and smears on the wall where he had used it to support himself.

Inside the elevator, he could not focus enough to read the symbols on the buttons. He hoped that he had pushed the correct one. At least it felt like the elevator was going up, but he even felt unsure about that. He was leaning against the elevator doors to keep his balance, and when they opened, he stumbled forward, straight into someone, who caught him and prevented him from falling over.

He heard someone say his name, but he had no idea which direction the noise came from. It felt like someone was pouring boiling water directly on his brain, and he could barely see or hear anything.

He forced his eyes open to look at the person who was practically holding him upright. All he could focus on was the name tag on his chest.

"Vega," he read out loud.

James was dead, he thought. He remembered how he had been responsible for his death.

"That was a shitty plan," he mumbled, closing his eyes again, ready to pass out.

Someone tilted his head back and forced his eyes open again, and he looked straight into a very familiar face. James's ghost was accompanied by Adina's, and Kurt felt both happy and incredibly guilty at the same time.

"Hey, Princess," he said. "Don't worry, most of the blood isn't mine."

Adina wiped her finger underneath Kurt's ear and showed him the fresh, red blood on the tips of her fingers.

"That's probably mine though…" he said, and was about to explain what had happened, but the edges of his vision was darkening, and then everything was black.

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy Med Bay**

Everyone else had already been to see Kurt when Luna and Raven entered the med bay. The salarian doctor stood next to Kurt's bed, writing down notes on his datapad while looking at a monitor next to the bed. In the corner of the room, Aria sat on a chair, cleaning her nails with a bored expression on her face. Kurt was on the bed, asleep or unconscious, while Adina was cleaning the blood off his body with a washcloth.

Kurt was naked apart from his underpants. Luna could see that he had minor cuts and bruises, but physically he appeared to be okay. Still, despite Adina's best efforts, he still had a lot of blood on him, and his underpants were gruesome to look at.

Luna looked down at Kurt's chest. She recognized the tattoo on his chest. It was the Ascension Project logo. Her father had the exact same tattoo.

"How is he?" Luna asked.

"Mr. Nielsen is physically fine," Doctor Roda said, gesturing towards the monitor without looking up from his datapad. "As you can see, his numbers are normal. Nothing apart from a few bruises and minor lacerations."

Luna had no idea what the numbers on the screen meant.

"Then why is he like this?" she asked.

"It seems Mr. Nielsen attempted to use his biotics despite having his bio amp deactivated," Doctor Roda said. "That can be very dangerous."

"They deactivated his amplifier?" Raven asked.

"Standard procedure when you capture a biotic," Aria added from the corner. "of course, you cannot do it to an asari."

"Natural biotics," Adina answered, cleaning the cloth. "Most asari don't use amplifiers."

Luna looked down at Kurt, who was still not moving at all. "What is wrong with him? What happens if you use biotics without an amplifier?"

Doctor Roda put down his datapad.

"It's a different case every time. Many human biotics cannot use their powers at all without an amplifier, but the Ascension Project is not for ordinary biotics. I would say, under the right circumstances, it would be possible for Mr. Nielsen to use his powers to an extent," the doctor said.

"He escaped, didn't he," Adina said. "It must have worked."

"The thing is," Doctor Roda continued. "Human biotics are not used to performing without an amplifier, and they risk severely overloading their brain or their entire nervous system."

Luna nodded. What the doctor was saying made sense.

"He will be okay though, right?" she asked.

"In most cases, the brain shuts itself down before permanent damage can occur," Doctor Roda said. "But this is an extreme case…"

"He's going to be fine!" Adina said firmly, trying to convince herself as much as everyone else.

"I sure hope so," Kurt groaned, slowly opening his eyes.

"KURT!" Adina said, throwing away the washcloth. She bent down and kissed him.

"Baby!" Kurt replied, looking up at Adina. "I thought you were dead! The ship! It exploded!"

"James and I were on the Normandy when that happened," Adina replied, kissing him again.

Kurt smiled, but then he winced.

"Careful, Mr. Nielsen," Doctor Roda said. "Try to remain still."

"My head hurts," Kurt said, as Adina backed away to give him some space. "They deactivated my amp!"

"We know," Roda said. "We have activated it again, but you should not use your powers right now."

"Of course not," Kurt agreed.

Doctor Roda picked up his datapad again. "I should test you immediately," he said.

Kurt nodded.

"How are you feeling right now, Mr. Nielsen?" Roda asked.

"Headache, dizzy, dry throat, sore all over."

Roda nodded. "Obviously, you remember some things, but I need to test your memory. Can you describe to me where you are and who is in this room with you, please?"

Kurt smiled.

"This is the med bay on the Normandy," he said. "You and I have never met, but Prangley did tell me that he hired a salarian doctor."

Roda nodded, satisfied, and Kurt then looked at Luna and Raven.

"The blonde I do not recognize, but judging by her uniform, she must be another of Prangley's employees."

 _"Actually,"_ EDI said from the loudspeaker above them. _"Corporal Crow works for me."_

Kurt smiled. "EDI is in the room too, I guess."

 _"Always, Kurt!"_

Luna smiled as Kurt then turned his head to look at her. He smiled and winked despite his pains. "This beauty is Luna Magnus," he said.

Happy to be recognized, Luna took his hand and squeezed it firmly. "Hi, Uncle Kurt."

Kurt then looked to his other side where Adina and Aria stood.

"These two, Doctor," Kurt said. "Are the T'Loak sisters. The sexy one is Adina, and the cranky one is Aria, who I cannot believe is sitting by my bed, worried out of her mind."

Aria rolled her eyes. "You wish, Nielsen."

Roda ticked a few more boxes on his datapad. And then started touching various points on Kurt's body, asking him if he could feel it.

A few moments later, Luna's parents entered the med bay followed by Prangley and James. Luna and Raven decided to exit the crowded room.

"He's not really your uncle, right?" Raven asked, as they sat down on a couch on the starboard observation deck.

"No, not really," Luna said.

"Yeah," Raven laughed. "I couldn't figure out which one of your parents he was supposed to be the brother of. But I'm very happy that he is okay."

Luna nodded, realizing how worried she had been. "Me too."

"I guess you are going home now," Raven said.

"I guess."

The Coalition had failed to take over the Council, their missiles were destroyed, their influence in the Alliance and C-Sec had been disrupted, and Kurt was no longer their prisoner. They were no longer a threat. Raven was right. It was time to go home, and Luna was looking forward to it.

-X-X-X-

 **Jon Grissom Academy**

Vera entered the classroom, which fell silent. The students, a mix of basic and advanced level students, looked up at her, waiting for her to start the class. She smiled. They were unusually well-behaved. It was like the students understood that they had to behave themselves while Charles and Jennifer were gone – otherwise, Vera's job would be too tough.

"Good morning, kids. Please, form your groups and compare notes from yesterday's lesson."

Vera was excited. She had just talked to James, who had told her that Kurt was safe, and that the Normandy had now set a course for the academy. She was looking forward to seeing her husband again. This time, she would not, under any circumstances, let him leave again. No missions for at least a year!

She wanted the family, everyone, in their house on Elysium. All together. Just together.

Atlas, who was in the back of the classroom with the rest of his group, had been so excited when Vera told him that his parents and sister were coming home. Considering everything that had happened, Atlas had handled himself with incredible maturity. Vera was not sure that Mark or Antonio, her own sons, who were also 12 years old, could have dealt with what Atlas had been through.

Looking at Atlas, talking with his classmates, Vera could tell that he was happier than he had been in a long time. Obviously, the boy was excited to see his family again.

EDI entered the classroom with Hilary, who was hiding shyly behind her mother's legs. Vera had allowed EDI and Hilary to watch her classes whenever they wanted. Although she was shy, Hilary seemed to enjoy watching the students. Particularly when they practiced their biotics.

"Hi, sweetie," Vera said, as Hilary approached her, holding an elcor plush toy in her hands.

She bent down and lifted the five-year-old onto the edge of her desk, from where she could see the entire classroom.

"Your children are playing in the gym," EDI whispered to Vera, careful not to disturb the students.

"Thank you," Vera responded with a grateful nod.

Mark, Antonio, Valentina and Vincent would rather play than watch the students do group work, but if they were practicing their powers, Vera's children were happy to participate in any way they could.

Vera was just about to ask EDI if she was looking forward to seeing Joker again, but then she remembered that this was just one of EDI's bodies. Actually, the AI was with Joker at that moment. She had been with him the whole time, on the Normandy and in her other body.

"Is Hilary missing her dad?" she asked quietly instead.

EDI nodded. "He misses her too," she added, looking out over the students.

Vera smiled nodded understandingly. It would not be long before the Normandy docked at the academy, and they would all get to see their loved ones again.

"Ms. White, what did your group discuss?" Vera asked, focusing on the class she was supposed to teach.

Pernilla White stood up and read from her datapad.

"We've talked about the importance of hand movements when using biotic powers, Mrs. Vega."

Vera nodded. "Good. And what is your conclusion?"

"It varies from biotic to biotic, Ma'am," Pernilla replied. "Some biotics seem to need very specific hand movements, like waves or thrusts, to do certain things."

"Great," Vera said, crossing her arms. "And did you notice any particular differences between the experiences of the older and younger students in your group?"

Pernilla nodded and consulted her datapad. "In general, the basic level students seem to rely more heavily on very specific memorized movements to reliably produce the same results, while us advanced level students move more instinctively."

Vera walked back and forth in front of the class. "So practice matters?" she asked.

"Definitely," Pernilla confirmed.

"Good work, Ms. White. You and your group can go to the gym now. Advanced level students will be working with basic level students. Try to think about what you are doing with your hands."

About a third of the students left the classroom, and Vera moved on to the next group. Interestingly, this group had studied hereditary biotics. This subject was not fully understood among human biotics, but the Ascension Project was not afraid to push the boundaries of science.

Lawrence Madison performed the presentation on behalf of his group.

"Biotic powers are usually not passed along through the genes. Children do not inherit the powers of their parents, even if both are biotics," Lawrence explained. "Biotic power in a human is a side effect of in-utero exposure to element zero. This is why siblings are rarely both biotic, but in the cases that they are, they are almost always twins who obviously shared the womb at the time of exposure."

Vera nodded. "I'm sensing a 'but' is coming up, Mr. Madison?"

"But…" the student said, smiling at her. "There are exceptions… Well… One exception actually."

Lawrence glanced at Atlas, who was smiling already.

"Atlas and Luna are siblings, but not twins, and they have inherited their powers from Mr. and Mrs. Magnus, seemingly without any exposure tp element zero in the womb," Lawrence said.

Vera nodded. This was true. Atlas and Luna were unique in that. They were both well above the average, and they had indeed inherited their extraordinary powers from Charles and Jennifer.

"And what makes Atlas and Luna so special?" Vera asked.

Lawrence blushed a little bit but continued.

"Besides being friendly and kind…" Lawrence said, before he was interrupted by a whooping sound from Atlas.

"Woo, we rule!"

"Well," he chuckled. "They rule… Their biotic skills are great."

Vera nodded in agreement. "Sure, but how should we explain the fact that they seem to have inherited their powers?"

Again, Lawrence glanced at Atlas, as if to seek permission before starting his explanation.

"Personally, I can come up with two possible explanations. Mr. Magnus is awesome, but I think the key to Atlas and Luna might be their mother."

"Dad will flunk you now, Madison," Atlas joked and the whole classroom laughed.

Once the room had quieted down, Vera asked Madison to continue.

"I think we all know about the experiments performed on Mrs. Magnus when she was a child," Lawrence said, and the room fell silent. This was a serious subject.

"Yes?" Vera said, urging him to continue.

"Mrs. Magnus does not like talking about this, but she has told us about some of the experiments, which included genetic alteration and injecting element zero directly into her organs. This means that she could have passed on some very unique genes, or, potentially, Mrs. Magnus' internal organs might be an element zero-rich environment after all those injections, and Atlas and Luna were exposed to this in the womb."

"Excellent," Vera said. "Well done."

Atlas stood up. "So which one is it?" he asked. "Genes or exposure?"

Lawrence shrugged. "It might be both. To find out we would have to do experiments. I know your mother have had more than enough experiments done to her, and I am not going to be the one who suggests taking syringes and scalpels anywhere near her children."

Atlas nodded understandingly. He knew his mother would never allow that.

"Great job," Vera said to everyone in Lawrence's group and sent them off to the gym.

But as the students were filing out of the classroom, the station alarm started beeping. Vera had not been informed of any drills, so she was immediately on her toes.

The normal emergency procedure was for all students and members of staff to gather in Orion Hall, but in light of recent events, Vera wanted to be extra careful.

"Is there a fire?" some of the students started asking.

Vera had no idea what was going on, but she quickly located EDI, who had picked up Hilary and was holding her in her arms.

"Alenko is on Earth for a recruitment tour," Vera said. "Can you find out what's going on?"

"If I can access a computer," EDI answered.

As the alarm continued to beep, Vera pulled Lawrence away from the other confused students.

"Get everyone into the gym, and please, find my kids! Keep them in the gym! Whatever happens!"

Lawrence nodded. "Do you think it's another attack?"

"I don't know," Vera replied. "EDI and I will try to find out. If it's a fire or something like that, we will all go to Orion Hall, but just get everyone to the gym for now."

As Lawrence started moving the other students out of the classroom and down Ascension Hall to the gym, Vera and EDI, holding Hilary's hand, hurried in the other direction to Kaidan Alenko's office. Vera unlocked it with her ID card, and they entered. EDI handed Hilary over to Vera and sat down at the head director's desk.

Before she had even touched the computer, she froze for a second and then looked up at Vera.

"The Normandy just entered the system," she said. "I can communicate directly with my other bodies now."

"Why would that activate the alarm?" Vera asked.

EDI started the computer. Her fingers worked quickly, as she gained access to the security system.

"The Normandy did not activate the alarm," she said. "The station is under attack!"

Vera gasped, as EDI showed the feed from the security cameras on the monitor. Soldiers in black armor were gunning down Alliance guards in the corridors near the shuttle bay, while students were running away. James had told her about the people behind all this trouble - A coalition between New Cerberus and Terra Firma. Seeing them on the station reminded her of the time when Cerberus had attacked the station. Her childhood friends, Seanne and Reiley, had been killed. Commander Shepard and his entire crew had arrived just in time to save them. That was the first time she ever met her husband.

She handed Hilary back to EDI, who made sure that the five-year-old was looking away from the computer.

"I won't be worth much in a fight," the AI said. "This body only looks like the other one. But it is not combat efficient."

Vera nodded. This was just the body that EDI had designed to take care of Hilary. It lacked the strength and the bulletproof alloy of her other humanoid form.

"Send an emergency signal to the Normandy. Tell the other you that the academy is under attack," she said.

"Done!"

Vera paced back and forth in Alenko's office.

"This is personal," she said. "They lost! Why else would they attack this station?"

"Revenge is a likely motive," EDI agreed. "You, I, Hilary and Atlas are probably the intended targets of this attack."

"And my children…" Vera whispered, opening the door to ensure that the hallway outside the office was still empty.

Vera looked back at the computer. The Coalition soldiers had almost reached Orion Hall. Then the alarm stopped beeping. Clearly, they had managed to shut it off somehow.

"Shit!" Vera cursed. "How long before the Normandy can be here?"

"45 minutes," EDI said.

Vera's heart sank. In 45 minutes the soldiers would have reached Ascension Hall and killed them all.

"We are going to have to fight," she whispered.

The walk down Ascension Hall to the gym seem long and hard, but Vera walked with determined steps. She entered the gym, and all the students turned and stared at her. Everyone was completely silent.

Vera looked out at the students and quickly located Mark, Antonio, Valentina and Vincent. They stood out in the crowd, since everyone else were wearing the same red uniforms. Considering the situation, it was a relief to see that they were all present, safe and sound for now.

She decided on a direct approach.

"The station is under attack," she started, and the students gasped and started shouting questions.

Vera held up her hand, and the room was silent again.

"There are evil people here at the academy, and I believe they are targeting the Ascension Project," she said, ignoring the shocked gasps this time. "They are here to harm us, and they will try to kill us if we give them the chance."

"Why would anyone try to kill us?" one of the younger students asked.

"Who are they?" another queried.

Vera imagined how the Coalition soldiers would be getting closer and closer to Ascension Hall as the minutes went by.

"There's no time to explain," she said. "All you need to know is that they are evil and dangerous. Here's the thing, though… We can wait for them to come for us, or we can go and try to stop them."

"Let's go!" Atlas shouted immediately.

Vera shook her head. "Basic level students will stay here with EDI. Advanced students, you can come with me, but understand that you don't have to."

A few of the older students stepped forward. Vera looked at them and nodded.

"Very well," she said, and pushed Atlas, who had tried to volunteer himself, back into the group of remaining students. "I expect the students who stay here to protect each other at all cost. Remember your training and listen to EDI."

Vera quickly gathered her children, promised them that everything would be okay and kissed them. Before she could exit the gym with her group of volunteers, she was stopped by Atlas, who pulled her aside.

"This has something to do with me," he said, confidently. "This is about what happened with those men in Alliance uniforms!"

"Maybe," Vera said. "But that does not mean that I am going to let you leave this room."

"But I can fight!" he said, shaking with anger. "You saw what I did to that… other man…"

Vera noticed how his voice shook as he talked about the man that he had literally pulled apart.

"I know you can," she said. "But your parents will be back soon, and if you got hurt, I'd never forgive myself… Besides, my children are not biotics, and I need some strong fighters here to protect them. Can you do that for me, Atlas?"

"There are plenty of older students here," the 12-year-old argued.

"Atlas," Vera said more sternly. "Stay put!"

Then she turned around and exited the gym with her group of volunteers. In the hallway she assessed the strength of her group. There were five students. Pernilla White and Whitney Chambers, the gossip girls of the class, were surprisingly courageous. So was Brian Mills, a loud-mouthed student who reminded her a bit of Jason Prangley in his teens. Kevin Bullard she hardly knew anything about, although she had been his instructor when he was younger. He was a very quiet kid, seemed extremely introverted, but always delivered good results in his tests.

Finally, Lawrence Madison was the fifth and final volunteer. She had gotten to know Lawrence a lot better since taking over Charles and Jennifer's classes. Before, she had just recognized him as that shy boy with the obvious crush on Luna Magnus. Now, she knew that he was both brave and protective. He was the student she was least surprised to see among her volunteers.

"Thank you for this," Vera said to the five students, as they stood together in the middle of Ascension Hall. "I know this is not what you are used to, but we have to give the younger students a chance to make it. The Normandy is on its way, so we only have to hold these bastards back for a short while."

"We've been at this school for more than ten years," Brian Mills said. "That's a lot of wasted training if we didn't do something in a situation like this."

The others nodded.

Vera was scared, but as calm as possible on the outside. She had to be. On the inside, however, she could not stop thinking about how many students and staff members had already been killed.

"Stick together!" she said. "Follow me and cover each other! They won't care that you are students, so don't show them any mercy! Come on!"

Vera and the students exited the department and ran towards Orion Hall. They were running against traffic, as hundreds of students were fleeing in the other direction, screaming and crying. Long before they reached Orion Hall, Vera could hear grenades exploding and gunfire.

She looked back at the students following in her footsteps. Their faces were pale but determined.

As they got nearer to Orion Hall, Vera was shocked to see the amount of blood on the floor and walls. Clearly, several of the fleeing students were badly injured.

The battle noises were louder and louder, until Vera and her group of students finally entered the enormous Orion Hall. Many of the round tables, where the inhabitants of the Jon Grissom Academy usually had their meals, were destroyed and scattered throughout the room. A small squad of Alliance guards were hopelessly trying to hold back an overwhelming force of Coalition soldiers.

The black uniforms were still pouring into Orion Hall. There were many more of them than Vera had expected. A feeling that she had made a wrong decision crept through her, as she took in the scene in front of her. But it was too late for doubt. The Coalition soldiers had already spotted their red uniforms, and immediately turned their attention towards the biotics.

"If Jennifer taught you any dirty tricks, now is the time," Vera said, and took a deep breath.

Her barrier protected herself and the students from the initial volley of grenades, but quickly started to flicker under the sustained fire of assault rifles.

To her right, Pernilla and Whitney sent out shockwaves, carving a whole through the enemy formation, which was quickly closed as more soldiers arrived.

Brian and Kevin greeted the newcomers with singularity fields, lifting them up off the ground. These singularity fields were then detonated by the girls, while Lawrence helped Vera maintain her barrier.

With the last Alliance guards taken care of, the Coalition soldiers now focused solely on Vera and her students, and though they continued to hold their ground, the enemy was close to breaking through.

"Argh!" she heard Kevin shout, as he fell to the floor, grasping his bleeding leg.

Brian jumped in front of him, knocking down two soldiers who had been ready to finish off his classmate. Then Brian took a hit too, and Vera had to look away as his barrier dropped completely, and the bullets tore the young man apart.

"Nooo!" Kevin shouted from the floor, as Vera used her biotics to pull him away from the advancing soldiers. As he slid along the floor, Kevin left a long red line of blood from his injured thigh. "Kill them!" he screamed before he passed out.

While Vera had been trying to pull Kevin to safety, the soldiers had gotten nearer.

"It's the Vega bitch!" one of them shouted and pulled out a shock baton. "I'm going to enjoy this!"

Vera ducked as he swung the baton wildly. She could feel the deadly charge of the shock baton, as the small hairs on the back of her neck stood up when the baton sailed over her head. One hit of the supercharged weapon would send enough electricity through her to stop her heart.

From her crouched position, she biotically punched the side of the man's knee, dislocating the joint. He fell over screaming, and she wanted to kill him, but had to jump back to avoid getting shot.

She formed another barrier, but it was obvious that she would not be able to maintain it for long. To her left, she could see Brian's body, and somewhere behind her was Kevin, unconscious and quickly losing blood. Pernilla, Whitney and Lawrence were still in the fight, but like her, they were exhausted, and there was still an overwhelming amount of Coalition soldiers in front of them.

The situation was hopeless. The Normandy was still several minutes away, and she and three students were all that stood between the Coalition and Ascension Hall. Completely outnumbered and exhausted, all they could do was to maintain a biotic barrier to try to keep the enemy back.

Vera, Pernilla, Whitney and Lawrence stood side by side in front of the exit that lead to Ascension Hall, holding up a barrier as the Coalition moved closer, firing relentlessly at them, knowing that the barrier would eventually drop.

"Mrs. Vega…" Whitney groaned. "I can't…"

"Fight!" Vera shouted, pushing more power into the barrier. "More!"

"Arghhh!" Pernilla screamed, completely red in the face, as she stood there with her outstretched arms, trembling violently.

Vera herself could feel her power dwindling. A few seconds more and it would all be over. The Coalition would kill them and get access to Ascension Hall… Atlas… Her children.

"MORE!" she roared. "MORE! COME ON! COME ON!"

She heard a faint buzzing noise, and at first she thought that the Coalition soldiers were powering up more shock batons. But then she looked up and saw a swarm of tiny drones fly straight over her head, into the Coalition soldiers where they detonated in a series of miniature explosions.

"It's the engineers!" Lawrence shouted, as students in uniforms similar to the Ascension Project's, except for the fact that they were green, entered Orion Hall, armed with their prototype weapons.

"Charge!" one of the older students in green shouted, firing a five-barreled shotgun, as the engineers formed a line with the biotic students.

"Sorry for the delay," another student of the combat engineering department said as she used her omni-tool to send more drones towards the Coalition troops.

"You're most welcome," Vera sighed, as the enemy was scattered for a brief moment.

-X-X-X-

 **The Normandy**

Luna was fuming with rage. She was sitting inside the shuttle with Raven and her parents, waiting for the Normandy to reach the Jon Grissom Academy. EDI had warned them about the attack on the station, and she could not stop thinking about what could have happened to Atlas and her friends.

She was shaking with anger and fear, and the mood inside the shuttle, which was parked in the shuttle bay, ready for takeoff as soon as they reached the academy, was tense. Obviously, Luna's parents were just as worried as she was, although EDI, who was going to pilot the shuttle, had assured them that Atlas was safe with her other body in the Ascension Hall gym.

Raven was holding Luna's hand, and, to her credit, managing to do so without complaining about how hard she was squeezing.

"How long?" James asked, punching the side of the shuttle.

"Just a few minutes now," EDI said, and James punched the shuttle again.

The captain was so upset that he could not bear to sit and wait inside the shuttle with the rest of them. Instead, he was pacing the shuttle bay, huffing and puffing like a mad bull. Luna fully understood how he felt. His wife and four children were in danger. She could barely stand to sit inside the shuttle herself.

Prangley, who was in the co-pilot's seat, called Joker on the Normandy PA system.

 _"Yes, Commander?"_

"Screw the rules, Joker," Prangley said seriously. "Park us right up against the station!"

 _"Got it, boss!"_ Joker replied. _"I'll drop you off right on the doorstep!"_

Luna looked out the side door of the shuttle and saw the elevator doors open to reveal Kurt followed by Aria and Adina. The three of them climbed into the shuttle and sat down.

Prangley looked back at him.

"Should you really…" he started, but Kurt held up his hand to silence him.

"Forget it!" Kurt said. "My head is fine! This is my school too! I'm going, and if Adina couldn't convince me to stay in bed, neither will you!"

Prangley and Kurt looked at each other. Then Prangley nodded. "Let's go do this then," he said.

"And you?" Jennifer asked Aria, questioning her presence in the shuttle.

"I want to see where you work," the asari said, shrugging. "Plus, these people want to fuck with your kids. I don't dig that."

"Well… Thanks, Aria," Jennifer said.

The slightly awkward silence that followed was replaced by EDI's sharp voice. "60 seconds!"

James stopped pacing and jumped into the shuttle with the rest of them. All the doors closed, and then the ramp lowered, revealing the familiar sight of the Jon Grissom Academy. The enormous space station looked quiet and peaceful from the outside. Nothing told them that anything was wrong on the inside, except for the black space ship that the Normandy nearly collided with.

As promised, Joker dropped them off right next to the station, and EDI would hardly have to engage the shuttle's thrusters to reach the academy. But before the shuttle could leave the Normandy, the black ship opened fire on them, and Luna felt the vibrations through the bulkhead.

 _"Just get inside!"_ Joker called over the radio. _"I'll deal with this asshole!"_

"Be careful, Jeff," EDI said, as she steered the shuttle towards the Jon Grissom Academy.

 _"Keep Hilary safe!"_ he replied, as the shuttle left the Normandy, and Joker sped off to engage in a dogfight with the enemy ship.

Seconds later, EDI landed inside the space station, and they all rushed out of the shuttle.

"The fighting is concentrated in Orion Hall," EDI informed them, but James and Luna's parents had already taken off down the hallway.

"I'll cover your back," Raven said, raising her assault rifle.

Luna gave her a grateful nod and they quickly followed after the others.

When they reached Orion Hall, the entire room was a blur of black uniforms, blue energy fields, drones and explosions. The constant noise of gunfire was deafening, and Luna could hardly believe that this was the room in which she had been looking forward to celebrating prom.

As the rest of the Normandy crew entered the battle, Luna looked across Orion Hall and spotted a couple of red Ascension Project uniforms along with the green colors of the combat engineering department.

"Come!" she shouted and ran into the crowd. She ducked under a drone and narrowly avoided getting caught in the crossfire on her way across Orion Hall.

Raven followed her, covering her back as promised, as they tried to navigate their way through the fierce battle.

In the middle of the hall, Jennifer and Charles were advancing through the enemy soldiers as well. Followed closely by Prangley and EDI, Luna's parents were tearing into the crowd, moving quickly and purposefully. The Coalition forces quickly realized that a new threat had entered the battle and shifted their attention from the students.

"Fuck you all!" Luna heard her mother shout, as she biotically lifted two Coalition soldiers into the air and slammed them back down to the floor.

"Get down!" Raven shouted to Luna, who had not paid attention and was nearly hit by a shock baton. She managed to stop and arch her back backwards enough to see the electrically charged baton pass straight in front of her face.

She was ready to deal with the soldier in front of her, but Raven was quicker and shot him twice in the chest with her assault rifle. Luna gave her a thankful nod and quickly reminded herself to pay more attention.

"Vera!" James shouted and sprinted past them, followed by Kurt, Adina and Aria. "Vera!"

Through the many black uniform, Luna saw her 'auntie', holding up a barrier in front of a group of Ascension Project students. She looked exhausted.

James reached his wife, who nearly collapsed in his arms, while Adina and Aria placed themselves between the Coalition and the remaining students.

By killing countless enemy soldiers, Luna and Raven eventually managed to fight their way to the other end of Orion Hall. Luna gasped as she nearly tripped over the body of her classmate Brian Mills, who lay dead on the floor.

"Vera!" she shouted and joined James and Kurt, who were dragging her away from the frontline.

"Hey, Luna," Vera said, showing a glimpse of a sad smile before she passed out.

"I've got her," James said, lifting Vera into his arms. "Go help the others!"

As James carried his unconscious wife out of Orion Hall, Luna, Raven and Kurt turned around to help the T'Loak sisters.

"We won already, arseholes!" Kurt yelled, firing his assault rifle. "How are there still so many of you?"

Worried, Luna tried to spot her parents through the crowd, but she had lost sight of them. Instead, she looked around her. There were several bodies in green uniforms scattered amongst the black on the floor around her. So far, she had only seen one body, Brian Mills', in an Ascension Project uniform.

To Luna's relief, her parents suddenly burst through an opening, followed by Prangley and EDI, and joined the rest of them.

"Is Vera okay?" Charles asked.

"She will be fine," Kurt shouted back, kneeling to reload his assault rifle.

Jennifer stopped next to Aria. "Let's finish this!" she said to the asari, who nodded.

Just as they were all about to push forward, a thundering roar rang through Orion Hall. Luna, who immediately recognized the sound, looked at her parents, who had both turned to look back at her.

"Eezo!" they all said in unison.

At lightning speed, the varren galloped across Orion Hall, mowing down soldiers, throwing them out of the way with biotics and catching them between enormous fangs. Eezo was huge. 400 kilograms of muscles, fangs and untamed biotics sent the enemy soldiers running.

"Good boy," Luna was about to say until she noticed who was sitting on Eezo's back, holding on for dear life.

"ATLAS!" she shouted and held her breath as Eezo jumped right over their heads and landed behind them.

Luna's brother jumped off the varren's back.

"I'll apologize later!" he announced immediately and ran to stand beside his parents, staring angrily out into the crowd of Coalition soldiers, who were still regrouping from their encounter with Eezo.

"You and Luna are both grounded for the rest of your lives," Jennifer said, while simultaneously ruffling Atlas' hair.

Next to Luna, Raven helped an injured Ascension Project student to his feet. That was when Luna noticed that the student was her classmate Lawrence Madison. Just as Lawrence got to his feet, Prangley and EDI threw high-explosive grenades, and Aria, Charles, Jennifer and Adina released so much biotic energy that Luna could almost taste it on the air. Coalition soldiers were ripped to shreds and thrown all about the room, and Luna pushed forward with the rest of her side, which now included Atlas and Eezo.

She held up one hand to maintain a barrier and used the other to lift soldiers into the air and towards Eezo, who would then tear them to pieces with his massive fangs.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Atlas fighting to keep up his own barrier and dispatch enemies at the same time. Luna watched with fear as her little brother tripped over a body, and his barrier flickered away. Thankfully, Lawrence jumped in front of Atlas just in time to protect him from the incoming bullets. It gave Luna a warm feeling to watch Lawrence placing himself in danger to protect her brother.

As promised, Kurt refrained from using his biotics. Adina and Aria stayed by his side, including him in their protective barriers. Meanwhile, Prangley was protecting Luna's classmates Pernilla and Whitney.

"Keep going!" Charles shouted and advanced forward. Luna quickly followed along with the rest, as they started to push back the Coalition.

The momentum had tipped, and Luna expected the remaining soldiers to surrender or try to flee. Apparently, so did her mother, who shouted:

"Don't let them get away!"

There would be no escape. Not after the Coalition had demonstrated that they were vengeful and not above targeting children.

"We're ending this now!" Adina yelled.

With everyone in agreement about not taking any prisoners, they began to surround the remaining Coalition soldiers. They pleaded for their lives, until Aria choked the last of them to death.

"There could be more elsewhere on the station," Prangley said, catching his breath. "EDI, Corporal Crow, you're with me."

Raven gave Luna a quick pat on the back, before leaving with Prangley and EDI to search through the corridors.

Luna ran over to Atlas, who was standing next to Lawrence, gazing out at the devastated Orion Hall with a look of shock on his face. She could not blame him. The number of mangled bodies on the floor, some of which were students, was horrifying. She did not even want to think about how many there were or what could have happened if they had arrived just a few minutes later.

"Did you grow taller since I last saw you?" she asked, hugging her brother tightly.

"Next time you sneak away on adventure, how about an invitation?" he replied, squeezing her firmly.

She snorted dryly. "It wasn't as much fun as you might imagine."

Atlas smeared some blood away from his eyebrow with the back of his hand. "It's not like everything here has been boring, not exactly."

"Clearly," Luna said, looking out over the bodies.

Lawrence limped over to them.

"Are you okay, Atlas?" he asked.

Atlas nodded, and Lawrence asked Luna the same question.

"I'm fine," she answered. "Thanks for looking out for my brother… That was very brave."

Lawrence blushed, and she smiled. He was cute.

"I was thinking," she said. "If you would like to go to prom with me?"

He stared at her silently. Until Atlas kicked him hard in the shin.

"Um… Yes… Of course!"

"Great!" Luna said and kissed him quickly. "Let's hope they can clean this room up before the party."

She turned around and saw her mother approaching. Jennifer winked at her. "I saw that," she mouthed silently.

Behind her back, she heard Atlas snickering at Lawrence. "Real smooth, dude!"

Jennifer quickly shut up Atlas when she started shouting at him for not staying in the gym.

"I can't believe you are angrier with me for this than with Luna for what she did!" Atlas responded. "How is that fair?"

"How about I kick both of your asses, how is that for fairness?" Jennifer replied and embraced him.

Luna walked over to Pernilla and Whitney.

"What's the latest gossip?" she asked jokingly. "I've not been keeping up on things lately."

The two other girls smiled and hugged her.

"Well," Pernilla said, "something tells me that Lawrence Madison has a prom date."

All three of them laughed.

"How was it?" Whitney asked. "The Normandy! It must have been so cool! Commander Prangley is kinda hot! And EDI is really cool and funny! Oh, and you have to tell me, is that bloody Aria T'Loak standing over there!?"

Luna held up her hands. "I'll tell you all about it later, I promise."

Pernilla was bleeding from a deep cut in her arm, and Whitney looked badly bruised, Luna noticed.

"You two should hurry to the infirmary," she said.

"You're right," Pernilla said. "Kevin Bullard and Mrs. Vega are there already."

The girls left along with Lawrence and a few of the combat engineers, and Luna walked over to Kurt, who was talking to Adina and Aria.

"Are you okay, Uncle Kurt?" she asked.

Aria smirked at the familial reference.

Kurt nodded, putting his arm around Adina's waist. "Tired, but fine," he said. "Thanks to these two."

"Thanks for helping save my school," Luna said to the two asari.

"No problemo," Adina replied, while Aria just nodded indifferently.

"Are you going back to Omega then?" Luna asked.

"As soon as possible," Aria said. "I have unfinished business with Limbo to attend to."

Kurt sighed. "Can't we enjoy a few peaceful months first?"

Aria shook her head. "Shut up, Nielsen."

A few minutes later, Prangley, EDI and Raven returned to Orion Hall and declared that the station was clear. EDI hacked into a terminal on the wall, and soon her voice was heard throughout the station.

 _"Attention students and staff of the Jon Grissom Academy. This is a message from the crew of the SSV Normandy. The threat to the station has been eliminated. Staff members, please report to your directors. Students are asked not to leave their classrooms or bedrooms for now. All clean-up and maintenance mechs, please report to Orion Hall."_

"Good," Charles said. "We don't need more students to see this mess."

As the janitorial mechs started to arrive in Orion Hall, Luna followed her parents and Atlas to Ascension Hall. They found the rest of the Ascension Project students in the gym with EDI's maternal body, Hilary and the Vega children. A huge cheer erupted when they entered the room.

"I'm sorry," EDI said, glancing at Atlas.

"Oh, that is not your fault," Jennifer said, glaring sternly at her son. "Apparently, our children are escape artists…"

Luna quickly said hello to the rest of her classmates, who had chosen to stay in the gym. Then she and Atlas brought Vera and James' children with them to the infirmary. When they arrived, Vera was awake and just fine, apart from being tired. James was sitting next to her bed, holding her hand. In the other beds, injured students were receiving treatment.

"Mommy!" Vincent shouted as soon as he saw his mother. He jumped into the bed with her, followed by Mark and Antonio, while James picked up Valentina and hugged her tightly.

"It's so good to see you all," he cried, running his fingers through his daughter's hair.

"You know what daddy promised?" Vera asked.

"What?!" the kids shouted excitedly.

"A long holiday," she said. "Zegema Beach!"

"Yay!" Mark and Antonio yelled, until Vera had to shush on them. They were in the infirmary after all.

James put down Valentina, whose brothers immediately started to explain to her how cool it was going to be at Zegema Beach.

"Is everyone else okay?" he asked.

Luna nodded tiredly. She felt like she could use a holiday to a tropical location herself.

"And Lawrence?" Vera asked from the bed.

"Fine," Luna replied, then smiled. "He's taking me to prom."

Vera smiled brightly. "Of course he is."

"Are you okay?" Luna asked.

"Just exhausted," Vera said. Then her smile faded. "But… Brian Mills…"

"I saw…" Luna said sadly.

The fact that staff members, alliance guards and several students, including Brian, had given their life to protect the school had still not quite settled in Luna's mind. During her time on the Normandy, she had seen many things that shocked her. Things that she had never seen before and hoped to never see again. But nothing was as absurd and horrific as seeing all this death and destruction at her own school – her own home.

She took a moment to consider everything that she had been through since sneaking onto the Normandy. She was not sure if she regretted her decision or not. Most likely, it would take some time to process it all.

Atlas tugged on her sleeve, bringing her back to the present.

"Are you sure you are okay?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, smiling reassuringly. "Yes, everything will be okay."

-X-X-X-

 **The Citadel**

Oriana stood at the docks with Gabriel, Liara and Sophia. In front of them, Kolyat and Vidani were boarding a ship that would take them back to Kahje. The princess turned and waved, and Oriana smiled and waved back.

"They'll be back soon," Gabriel said confidently.

Oriana turned to her assistant. "You think so? The drell need them. King Toro is on his death bed. Hopefully, they can soon begin moving their people to another planet better suited to their biology."

"Well," Gabriel said. "Don't you think they should be invited back for a ceremony and awarded medals, Councilor Lawson?"

The mention of her title reminded Oriana that she was one of very few remaining councilors. The coming months would be hectic for her and her surviving colleagues. Not only would they have to wait for the other species to elect new council representatives. They also had to figure out how to let the general public know about what had happened. Oriana was particularly worried about the reaction that the galactic community would have to the news of another human coup attempt against the council.

The galaxy was still licking its wounds from the reaper war, and many still distrusted humans over the role played by Cerberus. Now, just when everything had appeared to be returning to normal, Oriana would have to go out and explain that New Cerberus and Terra Firma had formed a coalition in an attempt to put humans in charge of the galaxy. If she had been anyone else, she would probably just have quit immediately.

She had already received supportive messages from several of her old friends. Tali, Garrus and the Geth Consensus, and Tom had already flown to Earth to meet with Alliance top brass about how the Coalition managed to infiltrate and influence the organization so easily. Later in the day, Oriana would have to have a similar conversation with the head of C-Sec.

"There's no way Jason might get in trouble, right?" Sophia asked, as Kolyat and Vidani's ship disappeared into the depth of space.

Gabriel gave the engineer a puzzled look. "Why would Commander Prangley be in trouble?"

"You know," Sophia said. "He stole the Normandy and disobeyed many direct orders."

Oriana smiled.

"He will be awarded a medal too, as soon as he arrives," she said. "And so will you."

"Me?" Sophia asked.

"Yes," Oriana said. "All of you. Who knows how badly this could have ended if we hadn't all decided to do something about it."

Liara put her arm around Oriana's shoulders. "I know you won't put yourself up for a medal, Oriana. But I will do it for you."

"Yeah," Sophia agreed. "After all, you were the one who really got the band back together."

-X-X-X-

 **Omega**

Kurt stepped off Aria's ship with Adina and was immediately greeted by the familiar smell and of Omega.

As he stopped to refamiliarize himself with Omega, Adina slipped her slender fingers in between his and leaned her head against his shoulder. Before saying goodbye to the Normandy crew, Doctor Roda had recommended Kurt not to use his biotics for at least a week, but he felt completely back to normal. He breathed in the warm air, which frankly had never been his favorite thing about Omega. But this time he gladly allowed it to fill his lungs. Being held hostage by the Coalition, having his amp deactivated and almost being killed had put a lot of things into perspective. He was relieved to be back at Omega.

"Aria's already started talking about going back to Limbo to teach them a lesson," Adina said, as they walked hand in hand down the ramp from the ship.

"I'll sit that one out," Kurt sighed. "I'm never going back to that place."

Aria walked past them down the ramp on her way towards Afterlife.

"Will you two be at the meeting tonight?" she asked.

"Nope," Adina replied. "We are going on a holiday."

Aria stopped and Kurt both stopped and looked at her.

"We are?" Kurt said.

Adina nodded.

"Kurt is taking me to see the place where he grew up," Adina told Aria.

Aria gave them both strange looks but then just shrugged and continued down the ramp.

"Hey, Aria," Kurt called after her.

She stopped, turned around and gave him an impatient look.

"Yes, Nielsen?"

Kurt walked forward and did something he had never done before. He hugged Aria, who froze completely with her arms hanging awkwardly down her sides.

"Thanks," he whispered. "For coming to help save me."

Aria didn't respond, and Kurt let go of her and backed away quickly. Adina gave him a puzzled look and then awaited Aria's reaction.

Kurt took another step backwards. Generally, Aria did not appreciate displays of affection, and he had seen her nearly kill a man for just trying to shake her hand.

"Oh, fuck off on your holiday then," Aria simply said and continued down the ramp.

Adina grabbed Kurt's hand. "That was scary," she whispered.

"Very," Kurt agreed.

Hand in hand, they continued down the ramp and through Omega's markets towards their apartment.

"She must really like you…" Adina said. "If you can get away with stuff like that."

Kurt chuckled. He had not been completely confident that he would in fact get away with it.

"You really want to come to Terra Nova with me?" he asked.

She squeezed his hand lightly. "I'd love to."

-X-X-X-

 **The Jon Grissom Academy**

"Are there any questions regarding your reading for today?" Charles asked, looking out at the class.

Luna smiled up at him, shaking her head softly. Lawrence Madison, who was sitting next to her, did not appear to have any questions either.

"Yes, Miss White," Charles said, when Pernilla raised her hand.

"Can we go to Elysium this afternoon?" she asked.

Charles sighed, slapping his palm lightly against his forehead. "And how does this relate to the reading you were supposed to do?"

"But we need to buy dresses for prom, Mr. Magnus!" Whitney Chambers pointed out.

Charles sat down on the edge of his desk. "Oh boy."

"So can we have the afternoon off?" Luna asked.

"You too?" Charles sighed

Luna shrugged. "We _do_ need dresses, dad."

"We'll see," Charles said, standing up. "Now, let's focus on your homework, please!"

The door to the classroom opened, and Jennifer entered followed by Atlas. Vera was on holiday with James and the kids, so Charles and Jennifer were taking turns teaching her classes with the younger students.

"Are you done already?" Charles asked.

Jennifer nodded. "We had fun, didn't we?"

Atlas smiled. "Mum cut the lesson a little short."

Jennifer took a step closer and whispered in his ear:

"Next week you're doing theory lessons with the little ones, and I'll take over fighting stances with this lot."

Charles smirked.

"You lost the coin toss, babe… You'll teach basics until Vera comes back," he whispered back.

"What if," Jennifer said, lowering her voice and leaning closer, "I go to our bedroom right now, take all my clothes off… Maybe then we could _negotiate_?"

Aware that he was standing in front of both his children and a classroom full of students, Charles smiled.

"Perhaps," he said, remaining calm.

"I'll make it worth it for you," she promised, biting her bottom lip seductively.

"Please stop it!" Luna begged. Apparently, it had been obvious, at least to her, what was going on.

Jennifer took a step back, but continued to make eyes at Charles, who turned to face his students again.

"Where were we?" he asked.

"You were just about to give us permission to go Elysium this afternoon," Whitney Chambers said hopefully.

Charles shook his head and chuckled at Whitney's opportunism.

"Permission granted," Jennifer said. "If you leave now, you should be able to get back before the sun sets on Elysium."

As cheers erupted in the classroom, Charles turned to Jennifer.

"And who's supposed to go with them?" he asked.

"They can go by themselves," Jennifer said confidently.

Atlas pulled on Charles' sleeve. "Can I go?"

"Ask your mother," he resignedly answered.

Jennifer shrugged.

"If Luna agrees to look after you," she said.

Atlas turned to Luna, making giant puppy dog eyes at his sister.

Charles did not expect Luna to accept responsibility for Atlas. He would have understood if Luna wanted to spend the day on Elysium with Lawrence and her friends, and not with her 12-year-old brother.

"Okay," Luna said to his surprise. "But if you misbehave at all, I'll tell on you, and mom will kill you."

Jennifer nodded, and Atlas smiled.

"Take Eezo with you!" Charles said, as the students started filing out of the classroom. "For protection… And he could use some fresh air too."

A few minutes later, Charles and Jennifer were alone in the classroom. He sat down on the edge of the desk, and when Jennifer stood in front of him, he wrapped his arms around her body.

She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Is teaching Atlas and his classmates _that_ bad?" Charles asked.

"Mmhhmm…" Jennifer moaned. "The theory is boring."

"So you want to switch?"

She looked up at him, seductively. "If you would agree to switch, I would be _very_ grateful."

He held her out at arm's length and looked into her eyes. "How grateful?"

She ran her hands gently up both his thighs, leaned in, bit his ear softly and whispered:

"Very."

Jennifer began to take off his jacket, and Charles smiled. "Here?"

"Oh yes," Jennifer whispered. "Right here."

Charles chuckled. There were only very few places on the station where he and his wife had not already had sex. Jennifer was insatiable, and Charles was happy to participate. Jennifer would often pretend that she was exchanging sexual favors for something, like agreeing to switch teaching responsibilities, but in fact she just enjoyed the banter.

As Jennifer continued to open to open his jacket, Charles leaned forward slightly and kissed her forehead.

"You know," he said, "you could probably convince me to switch with you without all this."

She smiled and left his uniform alone for a moment to pull her own shirt over her head. Charles looked down and noticed that she was not wearing a bra. Her breasts were right in front of his face, begging for attention.

He smiled. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"Since I woke up," she said, placing his hands on her bare chest. "Guess who gave the girls the idea to go to Elysium today?"

Charles gasped in pretend-shock. "Sneaky…"

"I want your cock," she purred as he circled her nipples with his thumbs.

Charles shifted his weight, as his pants were becoming uncomfortable to wear. Jennifer had noticed already.

"He's ready for me," she giggled, rubbing the bulge in the front of his pants.

An hour later, Charles and Jennifer were in the bathtub together. She lay on top of him, and he had his arms around her, as they enjoyed the warm water.

"You are a genius," Charles said, giving her a little squeeze.

She responded by rubbing her butt against him. "And you are a sex god… We should do it in the classroom more often!"

"And in the gym," he reminded her. "And in Vera's office!"

Jennifer started giggling. "She's going to kill us for that!"

"Here's an idea," Charles said. "Let's not tell her!"

"Yeah," Jennifer laughed. "Like I could resist telling her every detail."

"So mean…" Charles groaned.

Jennifer gave a satisfied sigh and leaned her head back against his shoulder.

"It's good to be back," she whispered.

Charles could not agree more. He enjoyed his life with Jennifer and the children at the Jon Grissom Academy. He loved teaching, and he loved that Luna at Atlas were growing up and learning important lessons about biotics and about life at the place that had changed _his_ life forever.

They had helped stop the Coalition, and the galactic community was safe once again. Personally, he would be more than happy if things could stay like this for the rest of his life. At the moment, he would almost accept never leaving the bathtub, he was that comfortable.

"Luna is very excited about prom," Charles said.

Jennifer nodded. "It was not difficult to convince the girls that today would be a good day to go dress shopping."

"Do _you_ have a date?" Charles asked.

"For prom? No. Nobody's asked me yet."

Charles wrapped his arm around her a little tighter and whispered in her ear.

"Would you like to go to prom with me, Mrs. Magnus?"

Jennifer rubbed her ass against him again to show her appreciation.

"I'd have to ask my husband," she responded coyly.

Charles kissed the side of her neck. "I'm sure he would be okay with it."

* * *

 _Author's notes:  
_

 _It has been about six or seven years, I think, since I started writing Biotic Beginnings. So much has happened in my life since then. I'm sure a lot has happened with my writing as well. If you have been, thank you for reading and enjoying my stories. This was the final chapter of the Biotic Beginnings series. I can't say that I definitely won't be back with something else, but mostly likely not something connected to this story or the characters._

 _I would like to take this opportunity to thank anyone and everyone who has been reading my stories. A special 'thank you' to you reviewers, good or bad, thank you for reading and for caring enough to give me your opinion. Thanks for the kind words, the PMs, the graphic assistance and the advice. And thank you all for motivating me to continue writing for all this time._

 _I wish you all the best_

 _Simon_


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